Page 48 - Living Light Spring 2024

PRAYER FOR TODAY
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Monday April 22 - Hearing God clearly
Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” John 11:43
As a musician who has spent decades in rehearsal rooms and gigs, my hearing is not the best. In busy settings with lots of voices, I struggle to follow all conversations and can find myself unsure about what is being said.
Jesus steps forward and calls forth Lazarus in a loud voice, saying “Come out!” Why though with a loud voice? I’ve heard several explanations, including that the hearing is the last thing to fade after death, or that it showed authority or some kind of spiritual resonance. Personally, I think these are simply looking too deeply (it’s not always helpful to overcomplicate with ‘depth’!). I believe Jesus spoke in a loud voice so that those gathered by the tomb would hear the prayer and the command before witnessing the miracle.
Where there is faith present in us, God graciously takes the little we have and amplifies it. The father seeking help for his son in Mark 9 cried to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). The man’s faith was like partial hearing, and something he dared not fully rely on. Jesus’ response was to heal. Perhaps your faith confidence is only partial today, or your hearing of his direction indistinct. Know this – his voice will reach you and become clearer the closer you get to him. Simply trust and respond.
Father, I thank you that I am not entirely dependent on my weak faith and hearing, but rather on your great mercy and voice. Speak Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Tuesday April 23 - My good shepherd
“...but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here...” John 11:42
In the spring of 1998, I began to think about Psalm 23. I often thought of it, and then started to notice it on bookmarks and posters. The poetry of it resonated through songs, and it seemed that everywhere I turned, someone was preaching or teaching this well-known passage. I eventually arrived at a place where I knew it was a message for me about the season ahead. I felt a slight sense of anxiety, but with a reassurance that the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) was with me. Over the next ten months, my grandad, my uncle and my dad all died. I saw my family depleted, and the remaining family shaken to the core. I received something extraordinary though – a pathway ‘through the valley of the shadow of death’ (Psalm 23:4), and it kept me. Believe it or not, I even conducted the funerals.
I did not have a Lazarus experience with these great men in my life who passed, but I did have something else – something which Jesus sought at Lazarus’s grave. He said he was praying publicly “...that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:42). What we need to hear and see, far more than the answer to our prayers, is that we may believe in Jesus, the Son of God. His presence makes everything bearable.
Lord, I’ve wondered why my loved ones could not be raised like Lazarus, but above this, Good Shepherd, help me to feel the comfort of your rod and your staff (Psalm 23:4). Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY