This is prayer in worship.
Yielding my will to His, understanding what He wants from me, and being
encouraged by what He has done in others and in my life to date. Seeing Him in
every aspect of my life, even when I was not His. John 11 is a beautiful
picture of the worship of God in prayer. It is a beautiful example of knowing
oneself, knowing God, and not being frightened of the circumstances. It is the
story in which Lazarus is resurrected. Jesus and his disciples were in
Jerusalem when they received word of Lazarus’ illness. And they stay 2 more
days right where they were, during which time Lazarus dies. This was, according
to Jesus so that Lazarus’ death may glorify God. Even though the apostles don’t
yet know the magnitude of Jesus’ claim of Sonship, still thinking in earthly
terms. After two days, they travel to Bethany to find Lazarus’ family in
mourning and the townspeople gathered to comfort them. And Jesus wept. This was
his best friend, a close ally, someone he broke bread with on many occasions.
Which is why Mary and Martha couldn’t understand why Jesus delayed, why he
wasn’t willing to drop everything to come heal his friend, his brother. But
along with this lack of understanding comes the acceptance of Jesus as who he
is, and the confession of faith from both of them, that Jesus was the son of
God and filled with His glory and empowered by Him. All of history is focused
in Him. And suddenly Lazarus emerges from the tomb. And the Pharisees are
beginning to see Jesus as a serious threat to their power.
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