PRESSING ON to KNOW the LORD as the Deliverer from Death
Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” John 11:43-44 NLT
O LORD Jesus, Lazarus was dead. 4 days dead. Laid in a cave, secured by a stone, bound with his graveclothes. Yet, You, Jesus, overcame his death and decay, the smell of his rotting flesh, and raised him from the dead! You called Lazarus by name and shouted at him to come out. And he appeared! No longer dead but alive, whole and well. At creation, all life began by Your spoken Word. You said “Let there be . . .” and there was life. Here in death, You spoke again. And there was life—Lazarus, restored and healed from death itself!
I, too, have been resurrected from death to life. As a sinner, I was destined to die. Yet, Your voice called to me, beseeching me to believe in You as my Lord and Savior. To flee from the cave of death in which I was destined to dwell forever and to receive the gift of eternal life. When I responded, You unbound me from my sins and set me free to live and love as Your daughter for eternity. Halleluiah!
Oh, Jesus, there are still so many people in this world who are bound for the cave of death. They have never answered Your call to escape from the chains of sin and believe in You. They are surrounded by the stench of death, restrained by their sins, yet seemingly so unaware and deaf to Your plea to come out to You. Today, I pray specifically for __________. May she hear Your voice summoning her to come out of her sins. May she believe in You as the only One who can forgive her sins and restore her to life eternal. Continue to speak to her, Jesus. Whether You shout loudly in her ear or speak tenderly to her in a gentle whisper, please call her home to You.
I pray in Your powerful name, Jesus, through the only name that can raise the dead to life.
Amen.
For further prayer and meditation:
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 ESV
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NLT
“Word of Life” by Jeremy Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjf278z1atY&list=RDMMHjf278z1atY
“Jesus, I Come” by Shelly Moore Band
