“Sir,” he whispered, “there is no improvement because the back pain is a symptom. The root of the problem is that my legs are uneven.”
Oops.
Can you imagine how I felt at that moment?

I was on an outreach that day in Brno, in the Czech Republic. Everything had been going pretty smoothly so far. The day had started off with some truly powerful prayer with the team.
As soon as we hit the streets, we had a few good conversations, and we saw the Holy Spirit starting to move during the encounters we had.

Word of Knowledge

While speaking with two rough-looking guys, I received a word of knowledge about pain in the lower back. The roughest of the two said he was “the lucky one.”
Up until that moment, I had—with all respect—become somewhat used to praying against pain and seeing healing as a result.

The truth that all authority has been given to Jesus is something I have meditated on for a long time. It is a principle I have applied in my life. So when I prayed for this gentleman and his back, I expected something to happen.

Somehow, I started to sense that I probably had to leave the comfort zone of my own safe boat.

To make a long story short, after two rounds of prayer there was no improvement at all.

I got nervous

Even when I bound the spirit of infirmity, nothing seemed to change. Strange. “Normally,” binding that spirit is the key to breakthrough.
Honestly, I could almost hear the demons laughing, joking that maybe Jesus had taken a vacation or something like that.

Well, as I mentioned earlier, the uneven legs turned out to be the root of the back pain. Of course, that made sense to me, but it also made me a bit nervous. To me, this seemed like a next-level miracle that was supposed to happen.

The guy from my home church back in the Netherlands—who is in the leg-growing business—was not with me on this trip. So I knew it was me, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who had to finish the task.

And then it hit me.

There was no more turning back.

All that was left in that moment was the name of Jesus and His promises about healing.

My translator seemed to enjoy the scene and definitely expected a miracle to happen through the hands of this Dutch evangelist.

Leaving my comfort zone

So, with a voice that might have sounded a little shaky, I suggested that the guy sit down so I could pray for his legs to become even. I was sweating—but not because of the Czech summer temperatures.

“Legs, in the name of Jesus, I command you to become even. Amen.”

The eyes of the tough-looking guy almost popped out of his head.
He realized that in the name of the Jesus he didn’t even believe in, a miracle had just happened.

After checking his back, all the pain was gone.

Wow.

What a glorious moment.

Even as I recall this miracle a few years later, I still get excited. This was by no means manipulation of someone’s emotions. This was New Testament reality happening right there in the Czech Republic.

SELAH

If you want to see miracles happen in your life that glorify Jesus Christ, there is a rule of thumb:

The more you pray for miracles, the more you will see them happen.

But there is a price.

Sometimes they simply don’t happen.

Are you willing to pay that price?

Take a moment to talk to the Lord and tell Him. And if you are not ready yet, what is His response?

After all, it is about our first love toward Him. It is not about performing miracles.

How do you live with that tension between scriptures that say signs and miracles will follow you, and scriptures that say it is not about works and performance?