“… grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” Acts 4:30
The word for “signs” in the New Testament is the Greek word “semeion” and it means an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature. It is from a root word that means, “to make known, to signify, indicate.” If you think about a sign, such as a road sign, the sign will point us to something we need to know. For example, when to stop, to turn, to slow down. When a miracle is demonstrated by the power of God, the miracle is a sign that points people to God. A miracle is a sign that says, “Look what the Lord has done.” Another definition of the same Greek word for sign is, “that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and known.” A miracle is a sign that God was here. A miracle shows us that it wasn’t any person or any preacher – it was God and God alone.
The word for “wonders” is the Greek word “teras.” The definition means, “something so strange as to cause it be watched or observed.” God’s miracles cause us to be amazed by Him; to be in awe. They make us wonder at His greatness and His love. His miracles cause us to experience His power and be overtaken by His love.
The purpose for signs and wonders is so that people will know that He is God. Egypt was a nation filled with false religion. Israel had been slaves to Egypt for 400 years. When God led Israel out of Egypt, He showed them He was God and He was moving on their behalf.
The miracles that God has done in the earth have always been done in participation with a person. God’s miracles in Egypt were done with the participation of Moses. The power did not come through Moses; the power was beyond a person. It was God. However, God has delegated the authority of the earth to mankind, and when He moves, He does so because a person has agreed to yield to Him.
It’s a good thing to ask for God to do miracles. The apostles asked God to do miracles through their lives so that the name of Jesus could be known. Jesus had said this to them before He left the earth, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believe in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father (John 14:12).”
Application: Today, ask God to perform a miracle through you so that the world around you can know Him.