This past weekend, I got to meet a miracle. A year ago, I felt the Lord ask me to pray for a couple to have a baby. I broached the subject gently (after all, the common mantra is, “never prophesy dates, mates, or babies”), and it turned out the couple (who I knew only slightly) was very much wanting a baby. So a family member and I prayed for them. Nine months minus one day later, I heard this couple had given birth to a healthy baby girl. So when I visited the couple’s church again this year, they brought their little daughter up to me so I could meet this sweet little miracle.
I hesitate a little to tell this story. I love stories of God’s miracles, but there is also a fear of the Lord in me that does not enjoy tooting my own horn. “Look at me; I prayed, and here’s what happened!” is not a place I want to be, let alone a place I want to live. In fact, I hesitated to speak to the couple, because while I was extremely excited to see this miracle with my own eyes, I also didn’t want to take away from the glory of God by positioning myself as the reason the miracle happened. (I didn’t need to be worried – the mother could not have been more excited to remind me of the prayer I’d prayed and how God had made it come to pass.)
Yet when we stop speaking about what God is done for fear of stealing His glory in the situation, we actually place ourselves in a situation where we steal His glory by not proclaiming the wonders He has done (Psalm 96:3). Our testimony is part of what helps us overcome darkness (Revelation 12:11).
I’ve seen certain individuals who used stories of miracles to give proof of why they were anointed, gifted, blessed by God, chosen, etc. They seem to overlook the wonder of the miracle to wave the flag of how the miracle is God’s stamp of approval on them or their ministry. Of course, we don’t have to live in this mindset – but it leaves such a bad taste in my mouth that I can hesitate to tell of God’s wonders.
At the end of the day, whether or not we are usurping God’s glory with our testimony comes down to our hearts – because from the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). If our hearts are giving God the glory, the way we tell about the goodness of the Lord will reflect this. If we think we’re hot stuff, we’ll put ourselves at the center of the miracle – the reason the miracle happened.
Here are a few ways we can not steal God’s glory while still proclaiming His glory through the miraculous things He has done:
1) Remember that God is the reason miracles happen. Some people fixate on “anointing,” talent, or who laid hands on them as the reason miracles happen when they pray. Yet there is simply no reason a miracle happens except God. Read that last sentence again if it didn’t make sense to you yet.
2) Don’t belittle your contribution as you tell the story. If you prayed, say so. If God said something, and it led to breakthrough, it’s fine to admit it. By removing yourself from your story, you lie and also display your insecurity, not to mention often leave people confused as to what actually happened.
3) Do not embellish the story, but also don’t become so detailed you lose your listener. Accuracy is wonderful, but only if the listener still remembers which story you’re telling (and can rejoice) by time you get to the miracle. Embellishing the story is (if you don’t mind me being a bit blunt) nothing more than lying.
4) Remember how much you, personally, and the person with the miracle (if they’re two separate people) are loved by God. Accepting His love and adoring Him will help keep your heart pure to keep giving Him glory instead of making yourself the center of the story.
5) Remember that every miracle happens to a person – it’s their experience of God, and it’s very meaningful to them. Honestly, this isn’t about you. It’s their victory and their miracle. The person and their victory is always more important than who prayed.
2 responses to “Are Stories of Miracles Glorifying God or Glorifying Us?”
Nice piece — thoughtful and careful. Quick question: when you share testimonies in church, have you found any practical ways to keep the focus on God’s action (not the person who prayed) so people don’t read it as a status marker? Also curious if you’ve seen a healthy format for telling these stories that avoids both bragging and silence.
Hi Briarwyn! Great question. I’ve found that keeping the focus on the receiver of the miracle and their problem at least keeps the focus off of me. (For example, I’d be talking about the couple and their baby much more than drawing attention to the fact that I prayed.) There is also an element of the listener’s heart – many people are looking for those who work miracles, so no matter how much you keep the focus on God, they will put the focus back on you. There’s not a lot we can do about that, except pray that God be glorified. In terms of format/storytelling formula, I try to keep myself as an observer; it happened and I happened to be there at the same time being a channel for the Holy Spirit. Using a real example from someone else, someone came up to her for prayer, she asked Holy Spirit what He wanted to say (thereby putting emphasis that this was Him and not her), He said “beer,” she delivered the message despite not understanding it at all, the man explained that he was addicted to drinking and wanted freedom – and then she simply said she prayed and “he was gloriously set free.” The story was about His freedom and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, not her or how she performed a miracle. Emphasizing what God did (the freedom, the outcome of the miracle), especially at the end of the story (they were set free, they were able to walk, they’re still alive and able to love their grandkids, they’ve started a ministry, etc.) is another way to divert the attention from us to God and His nature. I hope this helps!