Dear Jesus, this day. Dear Jesus, GrannyBob’s birthday. Dear Jesus, baby puppies crying. No more crying. Dear Jesus… the list continues, interrupted by Dear Jesus again and again. If you’ve ever shared bedtime prayers with a child, you know their lists can grow long and often repeating. You want to guide them. You want to help them finish. The amen comes eventually and maybe you chuckle as you make your way to bed knowing tomorrow night will be more of the same, but be sure of one thing- God hears.
Many things I believe go unspoken simply because they’ve become part of my routine. Either the daily-ness of the thing causes it to fade into the background, or I’ve subconsciously decided that everyone is aware so it goes without saying. My convictions have shaped my actions for so long that they’ve become a recognizable part of who I am, but how can I pass on to the next generation something that I never acknowledge aloud? Could I readily give a reason for the hope I profess were my actions or their motivations to be questioned? (I Peter 3:15-16)
I began thinking about this differently while studying John’s gospel recollection of the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus reacted to people’s thoughts without their saying a word aloud and even more often, He left the crowds to pray, but on this occasion, He made a very public prayer containing an invitation to trust Him aimed at all those in earshot. Jesus had already told his disciples Lazarus was dead and He was glad He was not present to prevent his death. He had spoken with Martha, then Mary, the dead man’s sisters, outside the village assuring them that He is the resurrection and the life, and He wept at the tomb before commanding with intense emotion, “Roll the stone aside!”
“But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
So they rolled the stone aside.
Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”
Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”
And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth.
Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!””
John 11:39-44 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.11.41-44.NLT
I have used a similar technique with my children over the years. I’d allow them to overhear me saying something intentionally so that they would come to the right response on their own without my having to tell them to help or cooperate in some way. Maybe I talk through the plan for loading the car to head out or gathering items to go to the pool. You’ve probably done something similar yourself. Someone says, “I’ve got the sunscreen” or “I’ll get the snacks,” and your bags are packed and you’re ready to go without issuing the first instructions.
My grandchildren are excellent at this sort of thing. Their current favorite is getting Ella, our Great Dane, to go outside. At five and a half years old, she struggles with arthritis and is moving slower these days. All I need to do is announce that I’m taking the dogs outside and Thomas or Amelia head to my bedroom to retrieve Ella. They’re so proud when she hobbles along beside them, their little legs move at just the right pace, and I don’t have to coax her at all.
“At that time Jesus prayed this prayer:
“O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!“
My Father has entrusted everything to me.
No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.””
Matthew 11:25-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.11.25-27.NLT
“Listen, O Israel!
The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.6.4-5.NLT
What are your convictions? What God things have become so much a part of who you are that they often point people to Jesus? What do you know to be true about God, that if someone asked you to give a reason for your hope, your conviction, you could answer without hesitation? Jesus prayed, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”
Having overheard him that day, many people believed in Him. What did He want them to know without a doubt? He came from God and God always hears His prayers. We can be sure of this and more.
“Who then will condemn us?
No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”
Romans 8:34 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.34.NLT
“Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw Lazarus raised.
But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.”
John 11:45-46, 53 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.11.53.NLT
Not everyone will agree. Not everyone will understand, but each of us stands accountable before God. Either we stand in Christ or apart from Him.
“The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.
The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.”
But the leaders were indignant.
They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’””
Matthew 21:14-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.21.14-16.NLT
Hearing my two year old grandson pray these days, I’d say that’s absolutely true!
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