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)
More often than not Jesus went away from the crowds to pray. One instance when He did pray in public was before He raised Lazarus from the dead. Prior to this prayer, Jesus had left town because the people wanted to stone Him. They did not believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.
This prayer is only found in John’s gospel. John states in John 20:31 that he wrote so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So, it seems fitting that this prayer is recorded by John. Jesus specifically states that the prayer is for the benefit of the people standing there so that they would believe He was sent by God.
Jesus starts the prayer by addressing God as Father. The Greek word used for father is informal and is used in personal close relationships. The Jews would not have typically referred to God as Father. There are only a few places in the Old Testament where God is referred to as Father. (Deut. 32:6, Psalm 89:26, Isaiah 63:16, Malachi 2:10) In fact, in most Jewish cultures it is forbidden to say God’s name for fear of taking His name in vain. Jesus speaks to Him as the Son.
Next Jesus thanks His Father for hearing him. Since He had not said anything to God prior, we can assume that He had already talked to God in private about Lazarus. There are no other mentions in the Bible of Jesus praying in public before He healed anyone and this is no different as He did not ask God to raise Lazarus. He just thanked God for hearing Him in the past and always.
The Greek word used for thank you is eucharisteo which means an overflowing joy. Jesus is not just throwing a half-hearted thanks at His Father. He is expressing “cup runs over” joy. Granted Jesus was one with God so He knew what was about to happen, but this seems to imply more was going on than just bringing Lazarus back to life. Perhaps He had an overflowing joy because of a close relationship to His Father.
How does this prayer help us to pray?
God is our Father (1 John 3:1). We should have a personal relationship with Him. We can approach Him anytime, anywhere. He hears us. As we allow this relationship to grow and deepen, we will begin to think and act more like Him. This is where overflowing joy abounds.
Like Jesus, we need to be in constant prayer, rejoicing and giving thanks. (1 Thess. 5:16-17) Prayer is not meant to be only at church or when we have no other options. The term often used when Jesus went to pray meant to move toward God and, once there, to open one’s heart to Him. It was a regular, habitual act. If you are regularly communicating with God, you know you can trust Him because He is all-knowing and loving.
Our prayers should be a reflection of our relationship with God, not just a list of things we want Him to do. It should be communication: speaking and listening.
Jesus did pray in public and in this case, it was for the benefit of the people listening. Most of Jesus’ public prayers were short like this one. He states in Matthew 6:5-8 to not pray to be seen by others and don’t keep babbling. Jesus wanted the people to believe that He is the Son of God. All of our public prayers should focus on pointing people to Jesus, not on how eloquent we speak.