Anyone Can Perform Miracles!

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says that pray overrides nature. We see over and over what seemingly ordinary people can accomplish with their prayers.

Someone once asked Rabbi Nachman of Tulchin to tell a miracle story about Rebbe Nachman of Breslev. He said, “I’m the miracle! I was a beast on two legs and Rebbe Nachman made a human being out of me. That’s the biggest miracle.”

Whenever he needed to perform a miracle, Rebbe Nachman prayed that people would forget about it; that’s why we don’t tell miracle stories about him. But, there was once a paralyzed person who couldn’t move his arm; he attended one of Rebbe Nachman’s lessons. Rebbe Nachman asked him three times if he had emuna. The man answered yes. Rebbe Nachman told him to move his arm, which he did in front of everyone that was there.

Rebbe Nachman wanted people to remember his teachings about serving Hashem and not the miracles he did, so he prayed that they would forget them. Rebbe Nachman’s teaching illustrates why we need our righteous spiritual leaders who show us how to properly observe Torah and serve Hashem.

Yet, anyone can perform miracles. Many of my students have told me how they’ve seen miraculous salvations from their prayers. Every individual must believe in himself and in his power of prayer, that he too can invoke miracles.

Hashem listens to our prayers. If a person lacks emuna in himself, he lacks emuna in Hashem!

Why? If a person believes that Hashem can do anything, then why shouldn’t he believe that Hashem can bring miracles and salvations for him?

Rebbe Nachman told the story of two friends who loved each other very much. One of them was deathly ill, Heaven forbid. The other one began to pray for him. After several intensive hours of praying, he asked his friend’s family how his friend was doing. They told him that the sick young man had not yet recovered.  He returned to praying several times and alternately inquired about his friend’s well-being. Finally, the family told him that his friend had come out of a coma, broke into a cold sweat, and was on the way to recovery.

Rebbe Nachman told us this story to show us the power of prayer and so that each of us would believe in ourselves and our ability to work wonders with our prayers. If a person really believed that Hashem hears and answers prayers, he’d pray with much more enthusiasm and fervor.

With my own eyes, I’ve seen how my own rabbinical students who could barely afford groceries bought apartments in Jerusalem after devoting hours to prayer and gratitude. These are the same students who couldn’t afford a bus ticket to the realtor’s office.

Such is the power of prayer and gratitude. This affects every area of life. Believe in your power of prayer! Speak to Hashem in your own words: “Father in Heaven, I have no other address to turn to! Please have mercy on me!” Say thank You to Hashem, the more the better!