As people of prayer, we would like the confidence to know that our prayers are heard. Scripture gives us “guidelines” for this in many places such as 1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence we have toward Him; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us”. Psalm 66:17-20 talks about high praise on our tongue and He listens, and 1 Peter 3:12 tells us “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayer. But His face is against the sinner”. Along with these “reasons” is worship.
Today we are going to “rest” on the value of John 9:31: “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, God listens to Him”. One of my favorite worshippers of the Bible is Mary, sister of Martha, the serve-a-holic and sister of Lazarus, the man who died. We specifically pick up the story in John 11:20-44. Martha hears Jesus is coming and runs out to meet Him saying in verse 21 “Teacher if only You had been here, my brother would not have died”. The indication is that she believed Jesus is who He said He is and would do what He said He would do. But when Jesus responds, “Your brother will rise again”, she is thinking only of the future resurrection, not today.
Oh, but the worshipper, Mary who was still at home weeping. John 11:28 Martha runs home and says to Mary “The Teacher is here, and HE WANTS TO SEE YOU”! Jesus ASKED for Mary. Imagine Jesus asking (your name here)! As the story continues, Mary runs out to meet Him and this is where things begin to turn. John 11:32 “When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and said the exact same words as Martha: “Jesus, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died”. 33 “When He saw her weeping, and the other people wailing with her, deep anger welled up inside of Him and He was deeply troubled. Where have you laid Him, He asked and they said to Him, “Lord, come and see, Then Jesus wept”.
Mary’s words were the same, but her heart posture was the determining factor. She had established herself as a worshipper long before this and the fact that Jesus sent for her says she had His heart. When she spoke, when she wept, He was deeply moved in His emotion which brought Him to action…He went to the tomb. And well, you know the rest of the story…Lazarus, Come out!! And He did!
Jesus displays a whole array of emotions throughout Scripture. We are created in the image of Yahweh to be conformed to the image of Christ, so emotions are a part of our make-up. We are to be led by the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit leads the emotions and through worship those are often displayed. Worship is a point of connection between the heart of Mary and the heart of Jesus. And so it is with us. When we have the heart posture of worship as we approach Him, He cannot help but be moved by our voice. The question today is, what is our posture? #MyGodisYahweh