In my past column, “Daily Life’s Pure And Simple Joys Are Sufficient Miracles,” I propounded that miracles comprise not only of extraordinary wonders but also of the daily ordinary blessings like having a good night sleep and waking up fresh in the morning.
But, truth is, people are oblivious to the small or ordinary blessings and would rather stew themselves in sacrificial supplications for the big and awesome miracle wonders.
And why not? Who is not wont to craving for magnificent manifestations of their prayed-for dreams or be awed by the marvelous miracle wonders like, among others, being healed from a terminal disease, blessing of material abundance, or winning the lotto!
My septuagenarian friend boasts that in his younger years he had won three or four times the five of the six digits of the lotto combination through, he claims, meditative visualization technique.
I, for my part, have witnessed firsthand how my wife survived from her undoubtedly critical or high risk 4th caesarian delivery operation, even after going through an “OBE” or out-of-body experience.
On similar vein, I and my wife are fond devotees of “wandering” (the English equivalent of the Latin “perigrinum” or pilgrimage) to distant pilgrimage churches or shrines to draw divine strength and invoke answer to our supplications. Our favorite is the national shrine of St. Padre Pio in the southern outskirt of NCR.
So, how can we manifest miracles?
For us, believers, we can postulate that miracles indeed happen because of God’s supernatural power and loving consent. In other words, God is the source or cause of miracles – and, of course, complemented by human supplication, or prayer, and cooperation.
In a sense, hence, miracles do happen because: 1) it is an act of God’s grace or a BLESSING; 2) it is precipitated by the individual’s fervent asking and belief for the fulfilment or answer to his/her PRAYER or longing.
Therefore, on the query “How can we manifest miracles,” two important questions need to be answered: 1) How can we DESERVE God’s grace, favor, or blessing? and 2) How can we manifest our prayed-for longings or how can we make our PRAYERS EFFECTIVE?
Let us try to answer each question.
On the first one, it can be said that we can be deserving of God’s miracle blessing or favor by trying to understand the beneficial reasons, or “purposes,” of miracles, namely: 1) as stipulated by the Church’s teachings, miracles signify or bring about God’s glory, or to use the Latin phrase, “ad maiorem Dei gloriam” (for the better glory of God); 2) miracles benefit not only the individual petitioner others too or the community: and 3) miracles induce one who is BLESSED to become a BLESSING to others too.
Needless to say, if the resultant effect of what we’re praying for resonates to these beneficial “reasons or purposes,” then it can be affirmed that we deserve God’s favor or miracle. It is interesting to observe, however, that with regard to the third purpose (being BLESSED to be a BLESSING to others), there are those who erstwhile pray and make big compensatory promises before God to be done once their petitions are granted. But after their prayers are answered, they rejoice on the blessings but they forget becoming a blessing to others and leave behind their promises as well.
Now, let’s proceed to the last question, “How can we manifest our prayed-for longings or how can we make our PRAYERS EFFECTIVE?”
Our answer is twofold: firstly, by BELIEVING; secondly, through PRAYER and CONTEMPLATION.
BELIEVING has become a miracle worker for a multitude of believers – it causes people to be cured, it enables others to climb the ladder of success and get phenomenal results. Believing is not just desiring. Nor does it emanate from our fancy urges and cravings. Believing is more than our feelings and emotions. Believing is not just thinking or rationalizing. Thinking can lead to more thinking and, therefore, to more questions. Believing is not more thinking; believing is beyond thinking.
True believing – the one that can make miracles happen – involves our whole being. It is a firm, deep-seated, positive conviction that powers the fiber of our being. True believing is believing with all our mind, heart, and soul.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus told us that “if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can say to a mountain to move from here to there.” Such is the immense power of faith, of believing – it comes from the heart.
Lastly, how can we make our PRAYERS EFFECTIVE?
Mystics and contemplatives affirm that prayer is not just asking or lifting to God our petitions but, more importantly, it is confidently BELIEVING, CLAIMING, and being GRATEFUL of God’s loving response, favor, or blessing. In other words, effective praying is trusting, claiming or manifesting (not just imagining or daydreaming) as if your prayer is already answered and thus being GRATEFUL for God’s favor or blessing.
Mystics further suggest that CONTMEPLATING is more powerful than just praying. Contemplation is not just praying or talking to God; it is listening and embracing the PRESENCE of God. While praying or talking to God involves the element of “control” on the part of the one praying, contemplating is just being present and relishing God’s encompassing presence. Such sublime or sacred PRESENCE exudes overwhelming peace, love, enlightenment, gratitude, and abundance – this is one glorious moment of God’s miracle!