November 8, 2019 – John 11:41-43

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” John 11:41-43.

How strong is our faith in God?  Do we thank Him for answered prayer before we see the evidence of the answer?

Yes, God hears our prayers.  Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and in 2 Chronicles 7:12, it is written, Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.”  Indeed, when Jesus heard about the illness of Lazarus, He gives the reason for the death of Lazarus:  “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” John 11:4. 

James 1:2-3 gives us the ‘why’ for the heartache we may encounter. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  It is when we trust in our Father God’s steadfast love we find joy.

But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.  Psalm 13:5-6.

The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him. John 11:44-45.