John 11:1–7 (NIV)
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
CONSIDER THIS
“The Spirit of Jesus in me greets the Spirit of Jesus in you and brings us together in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.”
We made it; two miles from the Old City of Jerusalem. Welcome to Bethany. Lazarus is dead—four days in the sealed tomb. The sisters, Mary and Martha are distraught. Lots of grieving friends are gathered. Jesus is actually crying. It is a traumatic scene to say the least. Now to our question:
WHAT IS JESUS DOING? W.I.J.D.
He is making a bee line to the tomb.
Interestingly, the first thing he did was to tell them to take away the stone. Here’s the play by play call:
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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 11:41–42).
Notice how Jesus first triangulates. But notice what he does not do. He doesn’t say, “Father, would you heal Lazarus.” He sets up the triangle for the benefit of the people around to know from whence this demonstration was coming. And without pause, he collapses the triangle and prays in a straight line.
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43).
Mid-conversation with the Father, Jesus speaks directly to dead Lazarus. The words, “Lazarus, come out!” is properly speaking, a prayer. We have become so accustomed to thinking of prayer as asking God for something that we have lost sight of the shape of much New Testament praying. My favorite Daily Text series ever was the one we did on prayer a few years ago. It was called Right Here. Right Now. Jesus: Moving from a Prayer Life to a Life of Prayer. Here’s a short bit from early in the book:
“What is prayer? A prayer is a word or a series of words spoken in the power of the Spirit. We think of prayer as bringing our requests to God. I am growing to believe God sees prayer as learning to speak like God speaks.” (p.16)
Again, it’s why Paul said, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Eph. 6:18). Prayer, in the manner and mode we are accustomed to is not wrong. It’s just not enough. I’m not saying to go out to the cemetery and start trying to raise the dead. I’m not even suggesting you go and tell your wheel chair bound Aunt Bertha to walk. I am suggesting you expand your way of praying to include calling out to people in their various challenging life situations in the power of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus with words the Spirit stands ready to breathe through you for their sake. How many people do you know right now who are far from dead but who need to “come forth” from the grave their life has become?
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (John 11:44).
That’s Bethany. So tomorrow we are going to Lexington, Kentucky, and a demonstration of this way of praying I witnessed a month or so ago. It’s a Holy Spirit story for sure, but it can’t wait for Saturday.
Still day one.
THE PRAYER
God our Father, who with your son Jesus Messiah, fills us with the Holy Spirit, thank you for the miracle and the mystery of the day of Pentecost. And thank you for today, and that it is only the day after. Holy Spirit, expand my praying imagination. I have fallen into ruts and the worst rut is we tell people we will pray for them and we hardly do it. Awaken me to prayer not as my speech but as participating in your speech. This feels like a stretch, but I’m ready to be stretched. Praying in Jesus’ name, amen.
THE QUESTION
Some feel like this way of praying borders on the “name it-claim it” approach of the prosperity gospel. It is not. I suspect if you are wired for the prosperity gospel it could be. Others think it can border on a “Messiah complex.” What bothers or challenges you about such an approach? Let’s be honest about our misgivings. That’s how we grow.
P.S. Holy Spirit Course: Register Now—it is filling up.
Holy Spirit Summer is in full swing now. I want you to join me for this upcoming course, How to Experience the Holy Spirit. I would say pray about it, but I already know the answer is yes. So many people live with a fuzzy sense of what it means to actually experience the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, we tend to compare our experiences with others which can bring even more confusion and doubt. New Christians and seasoned Christians alike can benefit from this short course. You can get all the details here and register. It will fill. And as always, if you need a scholarship, just ask.
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
8 Responses
J D, you ask why some of us are hesitant to embrace this different type of prayer from what we’re accustomed to.
I can only speak for myself. The one main cause of my hesitation is that it appears that we presume to always know God’s will concerning the matter that we’re petitioning for. I can honestly say that the only time that I’m certain about God’s willingness to affirm a prayer request is when it’s been revealed in his Word, such as wisdom. Plus it doesn’t help that many Pentecostcal types have made a public spectacle out of it on television and other venues. I’m open to enlightenment if I’m wrong about this.
For me it would be that I don’t like to presume I am God’s mouthpiece. So unless I was to be certain the Holy Spirit was telling me to step out and speak this kind of prayer I would be very hesitant – at least where miracles are concerned. Ardent non-believers will dismiss success but pounce on and publicise failure.
I agree with Bob, the public spectacle of, razzmataz, cash and zero Word must be avoided. Yes, let’s pray boldly, but with dignity. We don’t need showiness. Though I suspect JD already agrees with this.
Audacity in prayer is good, ( in a sense all prayer is audacious), but it is to be done with reverence.
Where we see suffering of any kind, whether it be sickness or situation, we should pray but also ‘act’. Act in a way that goes beyond the ‘tossing of a coin’ as we have already dicussed, but hold out a hand of love. I suspect we ALL already know this.
I am not there yet.
Come Holy Spirit.
“Pray in the Spirit”
We learn to speak
In the power of the Spirit
Not by filling our mind
With religious information,
But by training our heart
To continually surrender to Jesus
And overflow with words
That come from the presence
Of Christ living within us.
I think the challenge of this kind of prayer is that we exercise discernment so that we are led to it by the Spirit, not by our own desire to exercise spiritual power. For example, seven brothers in the book of Acts tried to pray a linier prayer and addressed some demons in a man, telling them to come out, but instead the demons in the man used him to overpower the brothers and beat them up. (Acts 19:13-16.) To avoid a similar outcome, we need to cultivate and maintain humility, surrender, and direct obedience to the real presence of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. We can train ourselves to speak when Jesus says speak and be silent when He says wait.
Good thoughts and cautions here today. I love what Steve has written. We have been given authority, entrusted with actual power. Certainly you are right. We do not want to ever presume on this, and you are right those who have done so tend to make us shrink back. The great majority of us however are not running the risk of presumption, rather we are playing it safe. The devastation is too great and the needs are too high to play it safe. If we are to err we must do so not on the side of timidity but boldness. And I am suggesting this begins in secret and then public prayer.
Would you explain what you mean by ‘in secret’.
in the prayer closet.
Hmm, I am torn between agreeing with this ‘closet’ prayer practise, and noting that the apostles ran straight out there and jumped into action. They ‘knew’ without a doubt they had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and had to act. Should we wait for the same level of knowing? Or is it within us all right now, but we have become so westernized that we have lost sight of it? If so then, yes, maybe closet practise (believers praying this way for each other or privately for outsiders) would be a way of getting back in touch with it. Not just for miracles but for, and more importantly, spiritual awakening.
You are stirring things up here, JD. ☺
I love when the light bulb brightens! Instead of praying to God about healing someone (psychical, soulful or spiritual), not that doesn’t have its place and purpose, we pray directly to the person by, from, and through the Holy Spirit.
A poor analogy may be driving an 8-cylinder car on four cylinders and taking the scenic route instead of the direct path to our destination.
Question.
I’ve been dealing with allergy symptoms without having any allergies, per an allergist. Since these last few Daily Text, I’ve been praying (talking) to the Holy Spirit inside me. I figure He has direct access, healing from the inside. When I reflect on this, these prayers seem triangular. Thoughts? Is it Biblical?