John 11:42 Heard Praying

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.”

I love to watch small children get try to get the attention of the parents when the parents are having a few moments of adult conversation with a friend. In the kid’s normal world, they speak and their parents listen. Parents want to give their children their attention. Why have kids if you don’t want them?

But every parent gets worn out, from life, from answering the endless questions, from the 9-5 workweek, from ballet class and T-ball practice. The one things parents really crave is some time either alone or with some other adults. They are tired of changing diapers and stepping on toys.

So when parents can have some adult conversation, they tend to ignore their kids. Their focus has shifted, like a parched dehydrated man at a water fountain. They only have one thing on their minds: conversation!

So the child walks up and says, “Mom.” and the mom ignores. The volume goes up a little bit, and the mom still ignores. The kid pulls on the pants of the mom and says, “MOM!” But mom is still engaged with the adult. And then it happens. The kid picks up the truck and throws it at the mom. Kid now has mom’s attention!

There are so many circumstances in life that could be fixed easily if you could just get the right person to listen to you. You could fix it yourself, if you could just get the proper permissions. But getting people to listen to you can be a challenge, at least it is for me.

I often appreciate the someone else makes the introductions for me. Some people seem to have the gift of connections. They just know so many people and keep the connections alive. They are such a blessing if their powers are used for the good.

But there are some circumstances in life when you pray and you aren’t sure the LORD is listening. Life has thrown you a huge curveball, and you desperately need the LORD to step up to the plate. The issue is a God-sized issue and you need God’s solution. Human-sized solutions are just too inadequate.

In our text, Jesus is praying out loud. He is praying this way on purpose, so that those who are listening will hear what He is saying. He is about to raise someone from death, and He wants everyone to know the connection He has that makes this possible. He wants them to respond a certain way to what is about to happen.

Jesus’ life, and the Gospel of John’s account in particular, is written for the express purpose of bringing people to the point of belief in Jesus and beyond. The message of the Gospel is like an arrow shooting through John: Believe in Jesus!

Believe in Jesus has been a drumbeat sounding in the previous chapters and it continues into the next chapters. There are many who are responding in belief. But there are some religious leaders who have responded rejecting the person and message of Jesus. There can be no fence-sitting. Believe or reject. Only two options.

So Jesus prays out loud, so that when Lazarus is raised from the grave, everyone will know that it was Jesus who did it. And Jesus wants them to know that the Father sent Him.

What would it be like for you if you knew that the LORD heard your prayers? Would it change how you prayed? Would you be desperate if you know He heard? Maybe you would be more thankful!