...It's so you can believe

What do you do when God hears your prayer—but doesn’t move on your timeline?

In this episode of the Press Movement Podcast with De'Shaun Harewood, we step into John chapter 11, where Jesus stands at a tomb, grief is heavy, faith is strained, and hope feels late. Lazarus is dead. Mary and Martha are mourning. The crowd is watching. And Jesus does something unexpected—He prays with confidence before the miracle happens.

This prayer isn’t about asking. It’s about assurance. Jesus thanks the Father, not because the situation looks good, but because He knows God has already heard Him. What unfolds reveals a powerful truth: sometimes God allows delay, discomfort, and even loss—not because He is absent, but because belief is being built.

This episode challenges us to examine where our faith rests. Do we trust God only when He moves quickly? Or can we believe Him when the stone is still in place?

If you’ve ever wondered why God didn’t step in sooner…
 If you’ve ever questioned His timing…
 If you’ve ever needed faith before the breakthrough…

This episode is for you.

Because prayer doesn’t just change situations—it builds belief. And prayer still reaches every single situation.

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Transcript

John 11

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Greetings, everyone. Welcome to the Press Movement Podcast.

Thank you for joining us. Once again, we are marching through the New Testament with only about 20 episodes left. And I'm so excited for what we have learned, really grateful for what we've learned, excited for the opportunities to apply it, and even more excited because today you're not hearing from me.

You get to hear from a veteran to this podcast by way of Deshaun Herwood. So Deshaun, take it from there. All right.

So today we will be in John chapter 11, and the prayer we're looking at is going to be in verse 41 and 42. We're going to start where Jesus speaks. He says, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.

And I knew that Thou hast heard me always. But because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me. The few things that kind of jump out at me from this was the entire point for him even saying this was that they would believe that Jesus was even sent.

There was something that he was trying to attack. There was a purpose behind him even just speaking out loud. And when he says this, he says, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.

He starts off just with thanks. And you look through, it's just a short prayer, but he doesn't even ask for anything. All he says is, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.

He doesn't sit there and plead. He just starts with thanks. But there's a purpose in what he's saying.

If we go through the entire chapter, you can see that he starts off with a purpose. And we go up to verse three. It lets you know who he's talking about.

It says in verse two that Mary and Martha, who were the sisters of the man Lazarus, who we figure out later on has passed, they sent somebody to Jesus. And it says in verse three, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. So who he's talking about, who he's praying for is a man that he actually cares about.

This allows us to understand that he was completely human, but he was completely God. He had feelings. And this isn't just a normal person.

It's somebody that he loves. But in verse four, he says something that we wouldn't say. He says, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God might be glorified thereby.

There was a reasoning that he had to go through this. There was a purpose for what he had to do. In verse six, it says that Jesus stayed in the same place for two days.

He stayed idle for a reason. He didn't just stick there just because he didn't care. It says that he loved the man, but he stuck there because he knew that God would be glorified through this, even somebody that he loved.

In verse five, it says that he loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. We understand that these are three people that Jesus cares about. He knows it's going to affect them and it affects him, but it's necessary.

We'll go to verse 11. Jesus starts talking to his disciples. It says, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.

And they think he's talking about actual sleep. So in verse 14, it says Lazarus is dead. But he says in 15, And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent that ye may believe.

Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Again, he's talking about belief. Again, when we read just the verse that he prayed, he said that he did it so they would believe.

Again, he's saying that he's glad he wasn't there because he understood if he was there, it wouldn't have got this far. But he's glad he wasn't there because they need to believe. So now it's time to go because what was necessary was done.

Now, if we go to verse 19, it says that there was many Jews that came to Mary and Martha to comfort them concerning their brother. So we see here, it wasn't just Mary, Martha and the disciples. There's many Jews that came and Mary and Martha and disciples.

Jesus knew what he was doing. There was a reason that Lazarus had to be sat in there in the tomb, which we'll find out later on was for four days, because he knew that many would come from this, that if he did this in just one would believe. If just one could take the time and be like, I know God sent this man, it was worth it.

If we go, we see that Martha comes before Jesus and she says, Lord, if thou has been here, my brother had not died. But Jesus says in verse 23, thy brother shall rise again. But Martha's not getting what he's saying.

She says, I know that he shall rise again in the day of resurrection, but Martha, where's your faith at? She's talking about the day of resurrection, but Jesus is talking about today. It doesn't have to be in the last day. I can do this right now.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this again, he's coming for their belief.

The entire time you just see believe, believe, believe. He wants their faith to increase. He had to go through this so their faith would increase.

So let's go to verse 33. It says when Jesus saw her weeping, speaking of Mary, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in his spirit and was troubled and said, where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. But verse 35, Jesus wept.

Again, just emphasizing that he cares about this person. This wasn't an easy thing for him to see. It says that he groaned in his spirit and he himself being God on earth, cried.

Not even just cried, he wept. But in verse 37, the Jews start to speak and says, could not this man which have opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died? They start questioning him because they didn't work on their time. But Jesus understood that there's a purpose for what I'm doing.

So he doesn't even acknowledge them. He just says in verse 39, take you away the stone. And Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.

Again, Martha, where is your faith? Jesus says to her again, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. He's not worried about the situation. He doesn't speak into the situation.

He just speaks into their faith. Every single time is just where are you at? Where are you at? Do you believe? And that's how we get into the prayer, where he starts off with just confidence. Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

My mind goes to 1 John 5. 1 John 5 verse 14 says, and this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Jesus starts off saying, God, I know you heard me and I know it's in your will, but I'm just going to thank you that you heard me.

And I know that you always hear me. There was no doubt in his mind. There wasn't any lack of faith.

So in verse 43, he doesn't have to sit there and plead and beg. He just speaks to the situation Lazarus come forth. All he does is speak to him, come forth.

And it says that he rose in verse 44 and says, loose him and let him go. But the purpose was for verse 45. And then many of the Jews which came to Mary has seen these things Jesus did, believed on him.

The entire purpose from verse three down all the way to 45 was these people would believe if it went this way, if it went God's way. And he knew there would be the people in verse 46 who says that they went their ways and told the Pharisees and did these things. But if I could get one, if one sinner repents, there is joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner that repented.

If we could just get one, it was worth it. Though he wept, we know that he's a God that feels, we know that other people hurt, but they believe. So it was necessary, but it was worth it because he got his people.

It says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. All they had to do was hear. That's why he speaks out loud.

They needed to hear me. They need to hear that the God of all, the God that they're saying they're worshiping, the God that they're saying they believe in, he's the one that sent me. So there's nothing too hard for my God.

He's God, Lord of all flesh. There's nothing too hard for me. He says in himself, there's nothing that he can't do, believe it.

And that's what he came for. That's the whole purpose of this prayer. God, I know you hear me.

I know it's in your will. Let's see you do it. So all it was was, God, I thank you.

Not pleading and begging is not wrong, but when you come with that confidence, our pastor said it today, that a confidence is faith. So it says we have this confidence in God saying we have this faith in him that he hears us and it's in his will and he wants to do it. So why wouldn't I come to that type of God? Jesus had an understanding of who his source was.

He knew who he was coming to and he knew that all he had to do was speak to it and he would come. I find it so just astonishing and amazing looking at this chapter. First of all, this chapter is like a preacher's dream because there are so many different angles, so many different nuggets you can take out of here.

But just sticking to the context of prayer and drawing from what you were saying, one thing that stood out to me was that Martha heard the word of the Lord, heard him say, your brother will live again. And she's like, oh, I know it'll be in the resurrection. And yet she couldn't comprehend beyond her understanding that God could do more.

It's kind of like when we hear the Lord or we know of things he says he'll do, oh, God can raise the dead. God can heal the sick. And we automatically limit it to, well, he'll heal your mind or he'll heal your heart in it.

No, sometimes he really wants to do the miracle. But our faith kicks in and says, okay, it's going to be within these parameters. And faith doesn't put limits on God.

And I'm so intrigued as I look at her because I see her as just being so human. Why would she think, oh, he'll get up? Other than the word of the Lord already came. I'm here.

I'm the resurrection. I'm the way. This is what I do.

This is essentially what he was telling them. This is what I do. This is my specialty.

But it was still for her trapped in the fences of what she could believe was possible. And then looking in that, I started thinking about even the audience and the ones listening. And even myself, when I read the scriptures, I try to read with a rake and not a shovel, if that makes sense.

I want to pull it into me and not just give it out. I wondered to myself, is it possible God is building an audience with what is grieving you? Is it possible that what he's letting you suffer through and you can't hide it, you can't play it off? Is it possible he's drawing attention to himself? That everybody who's looking, everybody who's pointing, everybody who's talking, is it possible he's allowing this because he's going to get glory out of it? My mind went back to 2020, and that's before we met you. Our church was definitely, definitely controversial.

Hands down, there were all kinds of threats coming. There were people talking about us left and right, but it got beyond that. The news was coming.

People were driving through our parking lot, taunting us or threatening us if we got it late. It was a lot. And then coming off camp about a month, almost a month afterwards, one of our prominent members died.

She was key to so much. She taught in the school. She taught Sunday school.

She led the praise team. This is not somebody you wouldn't notice. And she had since the start of TP.

And when she died, she did not have COVID, but it did not matter because somebody went live, and I saw their videos. I saw a few of them. They called our pastor a murderer, and they had thousands and thousands of views.

I mean, it set off a storm. Like I said, the news was trying to inbox us and inbox our members, and it was so much. But the one thing I still remember out of that is how many people tuned in to watch our first service after she died.

I think we had 3,000 people watching at one time. Now, that means y'all know y'all nosy. But what it did was, and I say that lightly now, but what it did was give such a platform to the stand we were taking that we're going to believe God.

And we did not get up and talk about her death or anything like that that night. And our pastor kind of gave a gag order as much as he could because we didn't get into it with the online either. But there was such a platform there.

And so I imagine that when I look at this, how many people gathered, how many people are watching, what's God going to do with that? This is your grief on display. Everybody's watching. So what's next? And I understand why it can be hard, especially in grief, to see beyond the moment or see purpose.

But isn't that the definition of faith? I was praying for somebody last week and it hit me. And when I say things hit me, it's not because I'm smart. It actually hit me.

I feel like the conduit. Like, oh, wow, that was tight because I know it didn't come from me. But I prayed and I said, God, when things get too bad, help them to close their eyes and see.

And I understood in that moment, wow, that's what faith looks like when you just close your eyes and you keep walking. I understand Martha, Mary, they had a hard time closing their eyes in this one. But Jesus came into the situation with purpose.

Sometimes we don't know what God is going to do. But he said, I came for this in verse 11. I came for a testimony.

And what we know today is that no matter how he's letting it go, it has to work for our good. It cannot be over until it's worked. And so I just want to encourage everybody out there, it's not over until it's working.

And I'm going to hand it back to Deshaun because he's quite the preacher, and I'm sure he's got some more to say because when you start talking like this, it just triggers other things, don't it? Go ahead, prove me right. The only thing I thought of was James 1, it was verse 5. It says, If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and abrade if not, then shall it be given to him. But the point that I was trying to hit was verse 6, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. But let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. This made me think if Jesus wouldn't have came without faith, if he would have just came like, oh, I just need to run and get here when this happened.

Oh, I heard he's sick. I need to go. But he came knowing God is going to do this.

There wasn't a doubt in his mind. So if we could come with that type of faith. I love how you said that, close your eyes.

If I can close my eyes and walk and believe that God's going to get me to my destination, that's faith. I can't see what's in front of me, but I know who is leading me. If I can trust in the one guiding me, that's how I'm going to get there.

That's what faith looks like. That's where it says faith without works is dead alone. Because if it's by itself, I'm just talking.

But once I start moving, that movement is that change. I'm grieving, I'm hurting, but God, I'm still going. God, I'm not giving up because I believe in you.

I'm going to get out of this situation. To be able to get out means you got to move. But if I just stay here, that's how we get so stuck.

I said this talking to our people at Press on campus, I told them we're in a generation of philosophers. We think so much and we get stuck in our thoughts because we don't ever move out of them. We get stuck in one place and it gets deeper and deeper and heavier and heavier to the point where it's like, I can't pick this up anymore because you're trying to carry it on your own.

But if you would believe that God could carry this for me, that if I just take a step, it would just come off. If I would just open up my mouth, I would have an understanding that I don't have to be like this anymore if I didn't get so caught up in my thoughts. My mind is starting to go to strongholds and my mind goes to 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5 says, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

If it's in the obedience of Christ, it won't get out unless you take it out yourself. If we could believe that it's in God's hands, if Martha when she's speaking to Jesus would just believe, oh, this is the God of all. This is the one who God sent.

I can believe it. It doesn't have to be in the last day. He can do this for me right now.

This would have been a different situation. But if we could believe that God was going to do what he said he was going to do, there would be no reason to worry. We wouldn't have any doubt if we could believe that God is who he said he was.

If Martha would have sat there and believed, if all those people would have believed, the situation might not have had to bend of what it was, but God knew it had to be like this so I could get them as well. Lazarus didn't have to stay there. He didn't have to stay in the situation, but he had to go there so others could come out.

When he came out, others did too. He came out the tomb, but others came out of their doubt. They came out of their disbelief.

They were able to believe in the God of all once they saw the work that he could do. But if we could believe without even having to see, that's what real faith is. I'm challenging somebody, just pray right now because you know what dead things are around you.

You know what public things are like so much weight, but God is the God of dead situations because he is the way, the truth, life, the resurrection. He is the great I am and he's coming for you today when you call him because prayer reaches every single situation. 

Join the movement. Like, share and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook.

Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and we're wondering how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice. It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you.

It's too quiet for God to hear. A book about prayer is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com.