Friday, January 15, 2010

How Jesus Roze Lazarus from the Dead

John 11:40-44
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

So Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He was definitely dead. And Jesus definitely raised him. But what Jesus said when raising him is important.

He first reminded Martha that if she believed she'd see the glory of God. Then they removed the stone, and He started praying.

"Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me... Lazarus, come forth!"

Before He worked His miracle, He prayed to God. In what order?

Thanksgiving, and then motivation, and then He states His request. He thanks God for hearing Him. Then He basically makes sure what He wants into God's Glory. Then He tells Lazarus (who was dead, so all these people are thinking Jesus is insane, most likely, or extremely grief stricken) to come out of his tomb. And he does.

Since we're talking about prayer, I have a plug that I hope you've already heard: prayers for the people of Haiti. But I also have a great story I heard. My friend's old babysitter is volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti (a Christian orphanage, by the way). When the earthquake came, buildings on either side of theirs were flattened. Hers was still standing. Praise God! Her blog, (usual disclaimer, I don't necessarily believe all that she believes or vice versa, and support the things she supports, or vice versa) is http://www.hookedonhaiti.blogspot.com/. Her coverage of the earthquake starts at the post 'Walls may crumble, but God is our ROCK'.

Praise God for all the good He did that day.
In His Service,
Joyce

1 comment:

rocktalk951 said...

a. If you had just seen someone pray and then call a man out of his grave, what would you do? Would you believe it, or praise God, or what?

b.Does anybody have any other stories about Haiti that are encouraging like the one I told? They'll get put in tomorrow's Encouragement Day.