A Prayer for a Miracle
By: Nicole Unice
I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. - Psalm 77:12-14
“You are the God who performs miracles!”
It feels good to declare it, but I wonder if you believe it—not just as a far-off, once-in-a-while phenomenon but as a personal, powerful, regular experience in your life with God. If I’m honest, I might intellectually agree that miracles are possible— “only God” moments of provision, protection and blessing that mark other people’s lives—but maybe you, like me, secretly doubt God would show up that way in my own life, and it would be better to think a little smaller—and expect a little less.
Yet the psalmist tells us that God is a God who performs miracles, not a God who performed miracles. This is a present-tense promise, not a past-tense remembrance. And if the definition of a miracle is a supernatural occurrence that defies human convention, emotion, or reason, then perhaps our own miracles are closer than we think.
We know the Bible is full of mighty miracles. God parts the seas, he feeds the hungry, he heals the sick, he delivers the oppressed. But what if mighty miracles aren’t just the ones that show up in the physical realm of signs and wonders? What if miracles also occur in the vast world inside of us, the place where our emotions and thoughts shape our actions?
Earlier in Psalm 77, we get a glimpse into the mindset of the psalmist, clearly in a time of personal distress. We hear the honest reflection of a discouraged heart—longing for God but not experiencing him, desiring comfort but not finding it. Yet within it, we read about two ways that the psalmist finds his hope again.
In verse six, he states, “my heart meditated and my spirit asked.” The psalmist pours out his requests—a request for all of the things God has wired us for. Acceptance. Purpose. Connection. He uses his heart and his faith to request of God even when it feels like God is distant. And then in v. 10, he uses his mind.
“[T]hen I thought, ‘to this I will appeal..’” And on what does he appeal? On the fact that God does miracles. In the midst of our deep distress, we can meditate on the truth of God, ask God for what we need, and fix our mind on this truth: the God of mighty miracles can do a miracle in you.
The same God who can set the earth to tremble and the oceans to quake can also calm your anxious thoughts and give you a spirit of forgiveness. The same God who parted the sea and made a way can fill you with peace and give you your next step. And as God transforms your stubborn heart, refreshes your weary soul, and redirects your anxious mind—that is supernatural. That is a miracle.
Let’s Pray:
God of miracles,
We confess that our feeble faith makes us think smaller and expect less from you. We confess that the discouragement and worries of today often distract us from fixing our eyes on you and from coming to you with every petition and request.
Help us today, Father, to see you as not a far-off entity but a personal, close reality. Allow us to meditate our hearts on your promises, draw from your love in faith, and appeal to your character as we walk into today expectant of our own miracle moments.
In the precious name of Jesus, who has made a way for each of us, we pray,
Amen.
Nicole Unice is a Bible teacher, author, and passionate communicator who delights in bringing God’s Word to life in a personal and relevant way. Her training as a counselor informs her work, as she emphasizes the importance of facing our own reality and embracing the transforming power of God’s grace. Her latest book, The Miracle Moment, is a six-week study on transforming conflict into connection.” You can find out more at nicoleunice.com/miraclemoment.
Related Resource: Jesus Calling - Stories of Faith
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