John 11:41b-42 Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
What a blessing to have this expression of Jesus’ heart for His Father in print! First, let’s notice Jesus’ heart of gratitude and confidence in His prayer. Second, this is not His first prayer with regard to Lazarus. He said, “You have heard me.” Perhaps He first started praying about it when He heard of Lazarus’ sickness or when Martha remarked, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." His response then was, “Your brother will rise again.” It was as if He told her what He had asked for. Jesus knew then, when He prayed, that His Father always hears Him. We have this same confidence because Jesus told us so. He taught His disciples to pray to our Father who is in secret and know that He knows what we need before we ask Him. Heavenly Father, hallowed be Your name. Thank you for hearing us. It’s not that we doubt it, we know you always hear us. We are Your children, and You love us. May You be magnified in our lives today as we live to love with Jesus those You put in our paths.
