Pray Bigger

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 Jesus raised Lazarus back to life by saying 3 words: Lazarus, come forth.

We do not need to complicate our prayers or elongate our prayers to help entice God to answer us. God hears every word we say and desires to answer us in the way we need Him to answer. God's answer is always better than our answer. He has better ideas than we every could.

Martha ran out to meet Jesus after her brother had died. Jesus said to roll the stone away. Martha did not have instant faith. Instead she had a human, passive aggressive response. She told Jesus (who knows everything) that if they rolled the stone away, there would be an odor because Lazarus had been in the grave for 4 days. Jesus knew Lazarus was in there for 4 days. Jesus knows everything. Martha wanted to remind Jesus that he was late to the miracle. Martha wanted to remind Jesus that he was late to answer her prayer. Martha wanted to let Jesus know that she was mad and upset that Jesus hadn't come sooner to answer her prayer in the way that she wanted her prayer to be answered. Lazarus died. Some would say that Jesus let Lazarus die. Did Jesus allow Lazarus's death, so that he could raise him from the dead? Who knows for sure. 

What we do know for sure is what was said in Scripture. Jesus thanked God publicly for hearing his prayer. Jesus has no doubt in his mind or heart on whether or not God is hearing his prayers. Jesus knows confidently that God is listening to him. The reason Jesus thanked God for hearing his prayer was not for himself, it was so that others listening would know that God is always listening. We know from scripture that God never leaves or abandons his children. Jesus was never left or forsaken by God. Jesus had God's full attention all of the time. I think that is why Jesus knew he didn't have to pray for an hour to get God to answer him. Jesus knew that God was watching him and Jesus knew that God would answer his prayer.

Secret phrase: Hungry Caterpillar 

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