Lazarus is Dead, Part 5
I know that you Always Hear
me . . .
The following Scriptural Nugget is the fifth
in a mini-series based on John 11.
Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I
thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me,
but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that
they may believe that you sent me." (John 11:41-42)
The setting is in front of Lazarus' tomb. Lazarus has been dead for four days, and Jesus, despite the fact that the body would already be decomposing at this point, has just asked that the stone be rolled away from the tomb. Then He begins to pray.
Now this seems quite a natural thing to do,
don't you think? After all, anytime we are in search of a
miracle, don't we usually begin by bringing it before our father?
We have been told to "ask", so we ask! We beg! We implore! In
fact, we sometimes act as if this what we are asking is something
that God doesn't really want to do! And in doing so, we
feel we are following Jesus' example! After all, He
prayed in front of the tomb so that Lazarus would "wake up" from
the dead!
But let's look a little closer at Jesus'
prayer: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that
you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people
standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." Jesus
isn't imploring, reminding God of things He already knows. Jesus
isn't begging. In fact, Jesus isn't even asking! He
starts off His prayer with a "Thank you" to God, and then the
Bible goes on to clearly say that the only reason Jesus is praying
at all at this moment is for the "benefit of the people"
who were there, so that they might "believe" that God
sent Him!
Whoa. Now that's not exactly how
I would have thought a prayer to raise the dead should be
composed! But let's take a moment and think about it. Jesus was
doing His part so that the will of the Father, which He already
knew, would come to pass! Jesus knew that it was already a "done
thing" as far as God was concerned. Though He didn't yet see the
physical evidence of the miracle, He had faith that God could and
would bring the miracle about. So, because He had faith that God
would do what He had said He would do, there was absolutely no
need at all to "ask", no need to pray at all. But for the benefit
of the people, that they would believe that God sent Him, Jesus
prayed the only prayer that made sense: He thanked God
for what was about to happen!
So why should we pray when we are waiting
for our "miracle"? Two reasons! First of all, Our prayers show
what we really believe! If we beg and implore, what we are really
saying is that we're not exactly sure that God is going to do what
we are asking Him to do. But the Word tells us: 1 John 5:14-15:
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that
he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of
him." What does this mean? That whatever we ask in accordance
with God's Word will come to pass! And how can
we know if we are asking for something in accordance with God's
Word? God's will is outlined in the Word! If what we ask is in
accordance with God's Word, and if we receive a Word from God that
what we are praying for will come to pass, then there isn't any
need to ask! What we really should be doing is praising God for
what is to come!
The second reason is exactly the same as the
reason Jesus stated: For the benefit of those around us, that
their faith might be strengthened!
Lord God, May our faith grow to the point
that when we ask of You in accordance to Your Word, we will have
that assurance that it will come to pass! Grow our faith to the
place where we can stop begging and imploring,
and start praising you that what you have
promised in Your Word will come to pass!
Please see the Thursday edition of The
Illustrator for "Lazarus is Dead! Part 6"
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,