What is the context?
The stone has been removed from Lazarus’s tomb, but Jesus has not yet called him out. His first recorded words here are thanks to the Father for hearing Him. He says He already knows that the Father always hears Him, and explains why He speaks before the people standing there.
The purpose is stated plainly: the witnesses are to believe that the Father sent Him. Read these words within John 11:38–44, where thanksgiving is followed by the command that brings Lazarus out. The account reveals the Son’s confidence and His relationship with the Father; it does not supply the words or timing of any earlier private prayer.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly see thanksgiving and testimony joined in these words: Jesus is heard by the Father, and the witnesses are directed toward recognizing who sent Him. The Catholic Catechism, paragraph 2604, Calvin on verses 41–42 and Wesley on verse 41 all connect His thanksgiving before the event with His confidence in the Father.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus explicitly gives the saving direction of the sign: belief in the One sent by the Father. John 20:30–31 states the Gospel’s wider purpose in the same terms—its recorded signs lead to believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and to life in His name. The prayer helps the witnesses see whose work is being revealed, beyond the extraordinary event itself.
What is our position?
Our study Prayer and Faith identifies this as thanksgiving rooted in the Son’s settled trust in the Father. Jesus is not using the recorded words to press the Father into acting; He thanks Him for being heard and speaks for the benefit of the witnesses. The study understands the prayer as expressing confidence in the Father’s purpose before its visible outcome.