We Speak the Name of Jesus

Day seven of a month for prayer and fasting and calling out to God

I received some bad news today, not connected with my child or family, yet it stopped me in my tracks. I cannot say what and it does not matter, for each of us, whoever we are, wherever, may at some point receive news that stuns us, that leads us to mourn for someone else: a neighbour, a friend, a colleague.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

When Jesus came to the tomb of his friend, Lazarus, he did not shout with authority, did not command Lazarus to rise, so many things Jesus could have done. Instead Jesus did as many of are doing at different times each day:

Jesus wept.

John 11:35

It is a natural to weep at bad news, whatever that bad news is. Also natural to be so stunned that you cannot weep. We process things differently. Anger may be a natural emotion at an injustice. Fear a perfectly healthy and necessary response to a dangerous situation.

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

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.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

John 11:40-44

We do not need to remain in mourning, or in anger, or fear. We may need God’s help to move us out of that place and if so, let us seek him to deliver us from being controlled by those emotions.

Not every child will be saved, nor every friend or loved one. Some have already been taken. Yet Jesus knew that for Lazarus it was not over. And while there is hope, while there is a chance of a miracle, let us keep petitioning our Father in heaven. It may be that it is time to speak the name of Jesus over our child, over our family, to entrust them to him who wept over his friend, who welcomed the little children to come to him, who even now is calling the one who has wandered away.

And if we do, let us do so in reverence and fear, for Jesus’ name is not a name to be used lightly. It is a name of power because it is His name, seated at the right hand of God, the lamb who willingly became a sacrifice for us, who will one day return to rule, and who I believe will judge each one of us for each word spoken whether carefully or carelessly.

Father in heaven, I come before you now, always conscious of my weakness, the turmoil of emotions I feel, the conflicting thoughts in my head, and I ask for your peace, for your Holy Spirit to still me and to guide me. I believe my child needs Jesus, all of our children do. They need the freedom that Christ offers, to be set free from each and every burden that weighs them down. In Jesus’ name I ask, Father, may my child be set free, from sin, and lies, from darkness, and death. I understand my child will still need to choose you, I cannot and do not want to force my child. Yet my child has been deceived and how can a free choice be made until the deception is exposed and the truth understood - so Father, expose the deception, open my child’s eyes, give my child understanding of what has been done, and I ask that you will call them to yourself, to the one who loves them so much that you would send your only son for them. Abba Father, dear, dear Father. Thank you! Amen

Read yesterday’s post: https://goal31.substack.com/p/be-strong-and-courageous

Day eight: https://goal31.substack.com/p/the-gates-of-hell

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