"And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." John 11:41

"This is a remarkable expression. Our Lord begins with "thanks," when man would have expected Him to offer prayer. How shall we explain it? ....

The subject is a deep and mysterious one, and I shrink from giving a very positive opinion about it. That our Lord constantly prayed, on all occassions, we know from the Gospels. That He prayed sometimes with great agony of mind and with tears, we also know. (Heb. 5:7) But how far He could know anything of that peculiar struggle which we poor sinners have to carry on with doubt, fear, and anxiety, in our prayers is another question altogether, and very hard to answer. One might suppose that One who was a man, entirely holy, humble, and without sin, might be able to thank for prayer heard, almost as soon as prayer was offered. Upon this theory the sentence before us would be plain: "I pray that Lazarus may be raised; and I thank Thee at the same time for hearing My prayer, as I know Thou dost."

And yet we must not forget two of our Lord's prayers not granted, apparently: "Father, save Me from this hour;"--Father, let this cup pass from Me." It is, however, only fair to say that the first of these prayers is greatly qualified by the context, and the second by the words, "If it be possible."

We may note here, as elsewhere, what an example of thankfulness, as well as prayerfulness, our Lord always supplies. Well if it was followed! His people are always more ready to ask than to thank. The more grace in a heart the more humility, the more humility the more praise." -John Charles Ryle

















I always imagined our Lord Jesus perhaps kneeling before the tomb for a moment, and then standing and declaring His thanksgiving. And He may well have, but we can't be sure. I thought these words from the Bishop are good to consider.

May we all be encouraged to pray big prayers to our Lord God, and always be grateful that we are able to come before His holy throne: But, only because of the broken and wounded body of His Beloved Christ. God loves for us to ask Him to do great things, and then to trust Him in His faithfulness.

Thank You Jesus for being such a fine example to us. And for making us righteous in Your death, so we can come to the Father of the universe. Thank You for the Holy Scriptures. Amen.