You always hear me (John 11:42)

“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 11:42

This verse cracks me up.

Father, thank You for hearing Me [v. 41]. Of course, You always hear Me. I just said that so others could hear me saying that.

It’s one of those things only Jesus could say; we couldn’t really get away with saying that!

But looking at this verse reveals several important truths:

• God always hears our prayers. We may not pray perfect prayers like Jesus did, and He may not answer our prayers in the way we think He should. But we can be guaranteed that He hears us and cares for us.

• The Father and the Son are unified in their desire to see me walk in abundant life. Swindoll points out that Jesus prays out loud so that the people would understand that He and the Father were united in the miracle. It wasn’t as if the death of Lazarus was the will of the Father and Jesus came along to override the decision. They are both united against the enemy of life.

• God cares about the people around me, and I should too. Jesus cared enough to pray out loud and let them see the inner workings of His dialogue with God, so that it would benefit not only those standing around Him at the time, but untold billions who would hear about it or read about it later. Do I care about the people I come in contact with? Do I care enough to say something or do something about it?

Our pastor brought up a new terminology in a meeting yesterday. Those who are “lost” are really “disconnected from God.” It’s up to us who are connected to help them make the connection.

Father, help me be the bridge that brings those who are disconnected to You. Use my words and my actions to draw them closer to finding peace, joy, and abundant life in following You.