Creflo Dollar — Dimensions to Praying in the Spirit
"Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave". He was groaning and weeping coming to the grave. See, that's it. He was getting ready for something big to happen. I don't know about you, but when you learn about this type of praying the devil ain't gonna know what to do with a Christian who knows how to go to this dimension of praying, groaning and weeping. I'll tell you how to change this world. Let some Christians get involved in some groanings, man. The place of prayer is always gonna be the place of success. I don't care what we do. I mean, prayer is the foundation for every successful endeavor in life.
There is such thing as groaning in the Spirit. It is, I believe, one of the deepest dimensions of prayer that a believer has authority to pray when you are in trouble or when you know somebody else that's in trouble. All right, now watch this. Verse 34. We're gonna look at this whole thing. "And he said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see". So, he's dead, right, according to their eyes. Verse 35. All right, now watch this now. "He said, Where have you laid them"? And then he said, "Come and see". And immediately in verse 35, "Jesus wept".
Now, he gave you an indication of what the weeping was about. He groaned in the Spirit. What was happening? Jesus wept. He wasn't crying 'cause Lazarus was dead. He was praying. He was in this deep dimensional prayer, and Jesus wept. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Yes, he was crying, but he was praying. The type of cry that was responding to the pain of trouble. It was the type of weeping that was praying to God for a response to that trouble. Verse 36, "Then said the Jews, Behold..." Now, see. Listen, see. Look at the Jews looking at Jesus. They think he's emotional. They said, "Oh, behold how he loved him". They didn't get what was going on.
Verse 37, "And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died"? You opened the blind man's eyes. Couldn't you do something about this dead man? He was. He was groaning and weeping. Verse 38, "Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave". He was groaning and weeping coming to the grave. See, that's it. He was getting ready for something big to happen.
I don't know about you, but when you learn about this type of praying the devil ain't gonna know what to do with a Christian who knows how to go to this dimension of praying, groaning and weeping. Something always gonna happen when you groan and weep. I've never spent that time weeping and groaning and not nothing significant happen as a result of that. "Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone was laid upon it". Verse 39, "Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha and sister — the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days". My God. Some groanings. Some weeping, all right?
Look at the next verse. "Jesus saith to her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God"? the manifestation, the tangible manifestation of God? Forty-one, "Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father," listen to this, "I thank thee that thou hast heard me". He has heard him. Well, when was he praying to be heard? When he was weeping and groaning, when he was weeping groaning, and then standing before that situation with this guy that's been dead he said, "I thank you, Lord, that thou hast heard me. You heard me".
Now, I guarantee you the people around, they heard weeping and crying and sighing and groanings. Nobody around probably could interpret what was going on, but he just told you what was going on. "Thank you that you have heard me". Now, watch this. Next verse, "And I knew that thou hearest me always". He was talking about what he just did. Now, I don't know about you. Did you ever relate "and Jesus wept" to the one of the strongest, deepest, more effective type of praying ever? That equipped him. Now, remember Jesus knew where to go to get the power to flip the switch, but he knew how to go, and he says, "And I knew that thou heareth me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me".
Forty-three, "And when he thus had spoken, he cried..." There you go, so he went back in the groanings. After he spoke this, "He cried with a loud voice," and notice, "Lazarus, come forth". All right, now watch this. Verse 44, "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: his face was bound with a napkin. Jesus said unto him, Loose him, and let him go". Lord have mercy. See, there are some things in your life need to be loosed and let go, hallelujah? Do you clearly see Jesus operating in the prayer of groaning right here in this situation?