Groaning in the Courts of Heaven
When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, there was a process that was walked through to bring resurrection.
We can glean from this process that we might see resurrection power flow in us and through us as well. The first thing Jesus did to raise Lazarus up was to move Martha from hope to faith. As Jesus was met by the grieving Martha, Lazarus’ sister, she expressed a confidence that nothing is impossible for Jesus. John 11:21-24 shows Martha making a statement that would allude to the fact that even though Lazarus was dead, there was something Jesus could still do.
Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
This dialogue has always intrigued me. In one moment it would appear that Martha is expressing hope and confidence that even now Jesus can resurrect Lazarus. Yet in the next breath, when Jesus confirms that Lazarus will be raised, she is stating that it will only happen at the resurrection of the dead on the last day. She is clearly torn and in a deep struggle with her faith. This is so much like us. We want to believe, yet the logic and reality of the situation seems impossible. This is what Jesus is about to deal with in Martha. As the oldest sister, she is the matriarch and must come into agreement with Jesus for this miracle to occur. First, Martha must move from hope in the future to vital faith in the moment. Hope by its nature is a confidence in what God will do in the future. We all have this and it brings us great comfort. Faith, on the other hand, is confidence in what God will do in the present moment and our agreement with it. Let me show you a couple of scriptures. Romans 8:24-25 is a very good reference for the nature of hope.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Notice that hope creates a perseverance as we wait on the fullness of the promise to manifest. This is awesome. We need hope. However, hope is not the dimension where miracles occur. Miracles occur through faith. Remember, hope is believing in that which will happen in the future. This is where Martha was. At best she was vacillating between hope and faith. One moment she was saying that she knows God would do for Jesus whatever He asks. This was faith. The next moment she was back in hope declaring that her brother would be raised on the last day, which is in the future. We must move from hope to faith. Hebrews 11:1 and 6 tells is that faith is.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
In both of these verses, faith is described as being present tense. Faith is the possession of what we are hoping for. This means that real faith actually springs from the realm of hope. This is why hope is necessary. We can never have real faith in the moment if we aren’t filled with hope. Martha had this, at least. I’ve seen many people who have become hopeless. There is no way for them to operate in real faith for resurrection to come to their situation.
Faith is the substance of what we are hoping for. Out of our hope faith can result. Hebrews 11:6 declares that to come to God we must believe that He is. This doesn’t just mean that He exists. It means that we have a present revelation of God. This allows us to come to Him. He is and He is the One who rewards a diligent search of Him. What motivates this is real present-tense faith. We have a revelation of God that births in us the willingness to take a risk and believe Him in the moment. This is what Jesus was endeavoring to do with Martha. She had to move from hope into real faith. To accomplish this, Jesus released a revelation of who He was to her. John 11:23-25 shows Jesus declaring to her who He presently was in this situation.
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
Notice that as Jesus is moving her from hope to faith, He reveals Himself not as one who performs resurrection but as the resurrection and the life! This revelation and awareness of who Jesus is births faith to agree with Him for resurrection to occur. We must have this revelation to see resurrection occur. It is the revelation of who He is that moves us from the hope realm to the realm of faith. It moves us from just a confidence in Him for the future to a present-day confidence for the supernatural to occur.
Another very important aspect in this story for resurrection to occur is to know groanings are necessary to resurrection. John 11:33 shows Jesus groaning in the spirit realm as He is preparing to raise Lazarus from the dead.
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
The groaning that Jesus went through was a travailing in the spirit. We see this connected to resurrection in Romans 8:19-23. We are told here that the Holy Spirit creates in us a travail and groaning that will result in the resurrection of our literal bodies from the grave. When Jesus comes back we will be raised and changed like unto His glorious body. The thing that preceded this is the groanings of God.
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Please note that it is our groaning through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that partners with the groaning of creation that results in the resurrection and the liberation of creation from its bondage! This means that what God will do, even in the ultimate event of history, we have a part to play. We must groan into reality this resurrection from the dead. This is why we see Jesus groaning in His spirit and being troubled. He was feeling the travail necessary to see resurrection take place! I believe the closer we get to this main event of history, the more the groaning of the Holy Spirit will intensify in our lives. Any resurrection requires the groaning of the Holy Spirit through us. This is why Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit prays through us with these groanings.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
I have experienced this many times in my own prayer life. I have felt the groaning of God moving through me. I have become aware that groanings in the Spirit carry great weight and testimony in the Courts of Heaven. The groaning in the Spirit will do things in the Court of Heaven that words never can!
I have a friend who is a successful businessman. I have watched him go from nothing to being a multi-millionaire. He attributes this to the Lord and His principles he has practiced. One day I got a call from this man. He began to tell me that through a process of events he had lost $500,000. He told me he had lain awake at night worrying about this and wondering what he needed to do. He had to be accountable to the bank and was afraid they would call due notes and debts he had with them. He wasn’t worried about the ability to pay, but knew this would end his business. He asked me why I thought this had happened. He asked me what legal right he had granted to the devil that would cause this to happen.
We dialoged over the phone for a while and came to the conclusion that though he had started out wanting to expand the rule of the kingdom of God, he had digressed until it became about him and his success. He felt strongly that this was the cause of his trouble. He asked if I would go with him into the Courts of Heaven. I began to pray and ask that we might be granted entrance into the Courts concerning this situation. I then suggested my friend pray.
As he began to pray, he got no more than a few words past his lips when he began to sob incredibly. I have never heard such cries in all my life. Deep wells of travail were opened in him and he allowed it to pour out. There were no words, just sobs, groans, and travail. This went on for maybe a couple of minutes with great intensity. As it began to subside, I simply said, “May this be received and accepted as testimony before You, O God.” My friend told me he had never experienced anything like this before. I knew, because of previous experiences in the Courts of Heaven in situations like this, that something had happened.
We hung up from our phone call. In about three hours, he called me again. When I answered the call, he was ecstatic. He said that after our time in the Courts of Heaven, a lady had called him. She handled grant money that was given away free and required no need to pay it back. My friend had never applied for grant money or requested it on any level. She asked him would he be interested in receiving $250,000 with no obligation. He told her he would. The end result was within three hours of standing in the Courts of Heaven and groaning and travailing, half the man’s loss was restored. He has since then been greatly blessed and continues to increase! His groaning produced in the Courts of Heaven what words could never have done. He experienced the resurrection power of Jesus in restoring to him all that had been lost.
We must give room to the groanings of God if we are going to see His resurrection power manifest. Not only will we gain from it now, but we will be a part of groaning with creation to see the coming of the Lord, the resulting resurrection of the dead, and the liberating of creation from any and all bondages.
As I come before Your Courts, Lord, I ask that You might produce in me through the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit the groaning that will speak in Your Courts. May the travail of my soul be heard in heaven. May the groaning of the Spirit of the Lord through me say more than any words I might utter before Your Courts. I make room and give place to these groanings of the Lord. Come, Lord, and take over my heart that Your passions might flow through me. Hear me, O Lord, and let Your Holy Spirit create in me that which will speak in Your Courts and allow resurrection to occur. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
