Someone once asked me, “Do I have to have faith to be able to experience manifestations such as the gold dust, gemstones, feathers, and other miracles? Is it possible to experience them at will?” I have talked about this before, but I think it is a subject that bears repeating as there seems to be a variety of opinions out there on the subject, many of them in conflict with one another. The example I see from Jesus in the Bible is that faith is a big influencer regarding whether miracles happen (although it is not the only factor), and yes, the goal is to be able to perform miracles “at will.”
The whole at-will thing is usually what trips people up the most. The more religious-leaning start to get their pants in a bunch and complain that God is sovereign and we are supposed to let God do things sovereignly, not try and do them ourselves. After all, that would be witchcraft if we tried to perform miracles ourselves, right? And Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19), and we don’t want to be caught outside of God’s will. Yet if we actually looked at the example Jesus lived, he did things all the time—and quite often simply because someone asked. “Give to those who ask” (Matthew 5:42). The examples we see in the Bible regarding performing miracles are very different than the ones the overly-churched tend to spout off about.
Acts 10:38 says that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” It turns out that the will of God is pretty clear regarding setting anyone free who is under the power of the devil—and if we do that, then God is with us such that we don’t really need to ask “permission”—we already have it. Not only that, but the Bible shows us something I have named “Resident Miracles.”
Resident miracles are those miracles that one performs at-will because God has given him or her the ability to do so, and there are multiple people in the Bible to whom the text actually shows this is true. Off the top of my head I know factually that Moses did them, as did Jesus, Paul, and the Two Witnesses in Revelation. I’m pretty sure Elijah did them as well, but I’d have to double check. The argument that “miracles are to promote the Kingdom” isn’t even entirely true, as Jesus walked on water when no one was watching, no one was getting “fed” by it, and he was even planning to walk past the disciples and would have kept going if they didn’t ask him to stop. Miracles aren’t just about proving that God is real to people–they are about manifesting the power of a higher authority in a higher realm to govern the natural elements in this one. Miracles are about manifesting the Kingdom on earth regardless of the time, place, or reason. I believe one of the major stumbling blocks to experiencing miracles of any kind, whether gold dust appearing from heaven or a limb supernaturally growing out, is the belief that God only wants it for special people at special times in special places, usually for extremely mysterious reasons.
Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” In that passage, the word “all” means “all”. All things. So it doesn’t matter what the religious pinhead sitting next to you says about the subject, God wants to give you all things. Alchemy, best known for trying to turn lead into gold, is just a non-saved person’s revelation that through God, all things are possible. Jesus turned water to wine, and I don’t even see people turning lead into gold by the power of God as being any different. God is not offended by such things, although the religious mind tries to meddle in the process. After all, Matthew 7:7-8 tells us to ask, seek, and knock, telling us that if we ask we will get what we ask for, and if we seek after something, we will certainly find it. We have been taught a lot of things about what God is and is not willing to do, and I believe most of it is nonsense. 
Our very belief that God doesn’t want to do these things is part of what holds us back. The Bible says that it is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom–and whether people like it or not, that includes off-the-wall and sometimes offensive miracles such as gold dust, feathers, manna, and oil appearing from heaven. It includes literally anything else our minds can conceive, as God is able to do far more than we can comprehend.
Whether you are struggling with this idea of God performing strange miracles or are on board for God to do whatever He wants (and for us to do them too), God is dedicated to growing each of us from where we are to where He is taking us. I believe that as we open our minds to new possibilities, we will experience wonders and glories from Heaven that we have never considered before. May you be blessed with faith and grace for miracles, and may the Lord astound you today with His good works!
If you are interested in learning to engage the miraculous, consider reading the books in my God Signs series that discuss supernatural signs and shares you how you can engage heaven to live in a miracle flow.
