9. THE BEST VERSION OF MYSELF: PRAY

Tuesday, March 5th

Read John 11:38-44 (copied below).

Follow Jesus…

As Jesus stands before the tomb with his grieving friends, he begins to pray “for the sake of the crowd” that God would honor his evidently earlier prayer that Lazarus be returned to life. “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me…” Jesus trusts that God hears his prayers, and with that trust, he tells Lazarus to come out from the tomb. Imagine the joy for everyone gathered there when Lazarus appears!

to be the best version of myself…

As I consider this prayer of Jesus, “Father, I thank you for having heard me,” I notice that Jesus expresses his gratitude that God has heard his prayer–while he doesn’t specifically include “for raising our friend to life.” I then recall how Jesus endured many disappointments, failures, and sorrows in his life. And yet, he trusted that God had heard each prayer, even in such times as when he “could do no deed of power” in his own hometown (Mark 6:4-5), when his cousin, John was killed (Matthew 14:8-12), or in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed, “remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42).

Perhaps this is the essential point of prayer–that we are heard, we are understood, and we are companioned through all of life by God, who is Infinite Love. In the times of my life when difficulty could not be avoided, when grief was inescapable, when worry was ever present, I found great peace in my desperate prayers of surrender, “Whatever happens, God, I will be okay if you are with me.” I was comforted to know that I would not face these hardships alone; I would be held by the One who loves beyond my comprehension.

for the world.

God, Infinite Love,
You are eternal,
ever-present,
around and within.
You hear every prayer,
spoken or silent,
or even unknown to me.
You are ready and waiting,
anticipating,
eager to help or to hold.
May I take your comfort and peace
to share with others;
to attentively listen,
to compassionately understand,
and to lovingly companion
along this journey of life.

Our reading for Thursday (7th) will be Mark 12:41-44.

Photo by Karen; the light of love shines through.

~~~~~

John 11:38-44 (NRSVUE)

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”