(Verse 40) - "Said I not unto you" - we have no record of this statement, but it is certainly implied in His conversation with her in the prior section. It could be that not every word of their exchange is included en the record. Or, it could be that John is referencing what was the clear implication of what Jesus had said earlier. Either way, it is clea that this was the intended meaning of Jesus' words.

The connection here is interesting. Jesus is not saying that the occurance  of the miracle is dependent upon her faith. This is not so! God's actions must never be understood to be contingent upon the actions (or the inaction) of His creatures. God does not react to our actions. He is not the responder. He is the initiator. He does not depend upon the flimsy whim of His creation to indicate to Him what He ought to do. This is important for us to remember. 

What is dependent upon Martha's faith is the benefit she will reap from what Christ intends to do. Believers are capable of co-operating with God in our sanctification. The ability to do so is a function of the new nature God gives us at salvation. That nature is capable of exercising itself to obey or to disobey known commands of God. It is capable resisting and defying God as well. From a human perspective, there is much that turns on the willingness of the believer to do and be what God wishes and commands turn to do and be.

Of course, this is from a human perspective and we need to remind ourselves that this is not the only, or even the best perspective. The best and most profitable perspective is God's perspective. From His perspective man is neither stronger, nor is he freer that He is. God is entirely capable of doing that which has decreed to do without rendering man a robot or worse. It is simply not true that these (God is sovereign and man is a robot or man is free and God is not in control) are the only options. God is big enough, smart enough and strong enough to have made a plan and then assured us that this plan would, indeed, unfailingly come to pass without destroying or violating the nature of His creature in the process. 

For Martha to realize the full benefit, spiritually in her life, of what Jesus would do, she had to believe. One last thing we need to remember is that Martha was already a  believer. What Jesus says to her is true of believers, but not of unbelievers. The unsaved are not capable of seeing or understanding the glory of God. This is because of the new nature that is the possession of the believer and that the unbeliever lacks. For Martha, it was a matter of disciplining herself to exercise faith and believe what Jesus had said. This was not true of those who were not regenerate because they did not have the new nature needed to perceive and understand and to exercise faith.

How do those facts apply to my life?:

You and I, if we are believers, are in the same position in which Martha found herself. We are frequently in the place af stress and difficulty where it is the normal and natural thing to focus on ourselves and the flesh and not on God and His Truth. We, too, must discipline ourselves and submit to the revealed plan of God (no matter what the reality seems to be) and discipline ourselves and choose to believe rather than fail to believe. It is only then that we will realize the fullness of the blessing of God and see His glory!