 Yeah, it's working fine now. So let's pray and begin this morning's class. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time that You have given us in Your presence. Father, we thank You that You enlighten us by Your Word and Father by the work of Your Holy Spirit. Lord, even as we meditate on the subject of prayer and intercession, Father, we pray for a deeper understanding. And Lord, we also ask God that we would be changed through our learning, Father God, that we would be transformed, Lord, in the people that we are. And Lord above all, we pray that You will strengthen, Lord, our relationship with You. Let it become stronger. And God, Father, let us continue to praise You, honour You and adore You even more. We commit this entire session, Lord, Father, all the details of the session into Your hands. We ask for Your presence to go before us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. So I trust that, you know, you're all doing well. Everyone's doing well. Also, the online students who've connected. I hope that you're keeping well. So this morning we will begin with our session on prayer and intercession. I have already posted the notes for the online students so you can follow along. We will do the introduction and chapter one for the students over here. You can follow along with the help of what is being projected on the screen. Okay, so we have also chosen to share the screen for us. So the online students can also see it. Okay, so we'll begin with understanding what prayer really is. So what is prayer for you? What, you know, does prayer do for you? That's the question. So if you could just think through and, you know, come up with your answers that will be very helpful. What is prayer? What does prayer help you do? Okay, so we have an answer here where prayer is conversation with God. That is what we've been told. How about the others and also the online students if you could post your opinion or your view about prayer in the chat section that will be very helpful. Okay, prayer is conversation with God. That's what we've heard now. What else? What else is prayer or what is prayer to you? It's a weapon. Okay, so that is another understanding that prayer is a weapon. So more, any other insights, yes, these are confidence that God hears us. Any other insights or views, even the online students, please do post it on the chat so I can read it out to our class here. What is prayer to you? What does prayer mean to you? Wonderful. So prayer is relationship with God. So when we consider prayer, prayer is all this and much more in God's word for us. So we'll try and understand what prayer is and how it helps us relate with God. So this morning, we'll go over the introduction to prayer and why prayer. Though God is sovereign, there is a role that man's co-laboring with God in prayer, no means. So that there is something important about us praying. So we look at that and then we'll also look at what might happen if we don't pray. So these are the key subjects that we are going to focus on this morning. So in introducing prayer to us, as some of you pointed out, it is our communication with God. It is our communion with God. So when we consider any relationship in our lives, which we are nurturing, now obviously we will not try to cut off from the person. If it's our family members, we want to maintain a good relationship with them. We relate well and we spend time. We communicate things which are on our heart. We also share whom we are nurturing a relationship is to communicate with them. So in the same way prayer enables us to commune with God. It helps us to spend time with God. It helps us to express our heart with God. So it really helps us in also understanding what is on God's heart. So all of these things are possible when we spend time in prayer. You would all agree that when we relate with somebody and develop a really strong relationship, it's almost like some parts of who they are, rub off on us. Some parts of who we are, rub off on them. Similarly, when we talk about our communion with God, we see in scripture that in prayer God is able to reveal our hearts to God. And at the same time God reveals himself to us and our relationship with God begins to get strengthened. And prayer is also a place of divine exchange. As I just shared that we are able to pour out everything which is on our hearts before the Lord. And God is able to lay the things which are on his heart on our heart. So it's like a divine if you want to use the word like imparting. So God is able to exchange and cause that exchange of his takeaway, some of our old ways of perceiving things and impart to us from himself, a new way of looking at things around us. So there is a divine exchange and there's so much more about this divine exchange that we are not covering right now. But all these things happen when we spend time in prayer. For some of us prayer only ends up being, it's on my timetable, I need to check it off. Oh I completed prayer, that's it. But prayer is so much more than just following through with the agenda or it's more than a ritual. Okay let's continue on. Prayer is also partnering with God and we will talk more about this in just a moment. So we are here to work together with God when we say part going on. Okay and in this case it's God and human beings, God and mankind. There is a partnership which God intended and established and we work in line with that partnership and we are able to see great things accomplished for the kingdom of God. So when I'm praying I'm actually working with God or in other words partnering with God and what exactly this partnering looks like we will come back to that. So just a quick check on our online students here, we have some responses. So Surya says prayer is talking with God, Krisha says intimacy with God and Nina. Okay so she's requesting me to keep the microphone close to me. Alright thank you Nina, I will do that as much as possible. So thank you so much for all of your views and opinions. Let's continue on and look at what are some of the other, what else does prayer mean. Prayer is also ministry. Ministry is nothing but service. So prayer is our ministry. We are able to serve people through the prayers that we pray. This course will also include information on intercession. So when we study about intercession we will understand how to minister to other people through our prayers. Then prayer as someone pointed out is warfare. When we spend time in prayer, we are able to go before God and force whatever the Lord Jesus has on the cross for us. All the blessings, all of his authority we are able to enforce that in and through our lives. We are able to see victory over Satan and all his works of destruction. So prayer is also warfare. So just with these insights about prayer, I'm sure all of us will agree that prayer is very powerful. And it's much more than just following some religious ritual. And here is the beauty of the God that we serve, Psalm 65 and verse 2. It says, O you who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come. So God has made a choice to hear our prayers. It's not a task for him. God is not a weary and really burden to listen to people's prayers. Not at all because when we look at scripture we see that God is interested in hearing what we have to say. And so when we spend time with God, as much as we enjoy God's presence, as much as we enjoy the fellowship of God, we see that God also reciprocates and he hears the prayers of all people and we are encouraged to come before God and pour out your hearts. God is a God and especially when we who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as believers, we pray his years are turned towards us. So first Peter chapter 3 and verse 12, it says, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his years are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. So again an encouragement for us as believers. Whenever we pray, we get pictures that God is happy to hear our prayers and for believers his years are turned towards us. In other words, it's inclined towards the direction from where the prayers are arising. So God is straining himself to actually listen to the prayers of the believers. This gives us a lot of confidence, isn't it? That this is how God responds to our prayers and so we are encouraged. We don't go in with this thought that, oh no, I have to pray and then God doesn't come with the prayer. No, I have to listen and there are so many people in the world and I have to sit and listen to everybody's prayers. But that's not his attitude. He is excited and very happy to hear our prayers, especially the prayers of believers. If you happen to have any questions, even while I am sharing these insights, just feel free. The online students, you can just post your question in the chat section. I am looking at your chat to be able to answer them. And similarly here on campus students, you can just raise your hands and we will address them. Okay, let's continue. So here is the understanding of the purpose of prayer. Why prayer? I told us we are going to look at that aspect today. So in the beginning, when God created man, God had a purpose for man in mind. God empowered man, God positioned man, God also vested on man authority. So God made sure that man here on the earth should be in a place of rule and reign. So God wanted this, this was God's original intention. If we quickly look at Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, we will gain more understanding over there. So I want to request our on-campus students, if somebody can read it out and in the meantime, our online students could quickly turn to these scriptures in your Bible. Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 and 27. Yes, wonderful. So we see that God created man in his own image. So his own image is his likeness. So he gave his likeness to man and not only that, we also read that he gave man dominion. Dominion is the capacity to rule and reign. Dominion is to have authority. So that is how God created man and he wanted man and he created woman as well. But he wanted mankind to rule and reign on the earth. In other words, he gave them the stewardship of this earth and said, you take care of this earth. So that is God's original intention that man should carry authority, dominion, rule and reign in this world. But we are aware of what happened because of sin. Now let's continue further. We look at another important scripture here, which is Psalm 115 and verse 16. So if someone can read that out, even the heavens are the lords, but the earth he has given to the children of men. So this is reiterating what we just learned from Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 and 27 that God has handed the earth for man's stewardship. So who is responsible? Who is responsible to take care of the earth? Man, quite obvious from what we have just seen. So man is responsible to take care of the earth. So I'm just looking at the chat here and it says, it springs from the heart with a need for greater than man's ability to encounter. So Nina, I'm assuming you are talking about prayer and the nature of prayer. So I hope I'm correct about that. So we'll move forward. So we've looked at the fact that the earth has been given to mankind. Now here is what happened in this purpose that God had for mankind. We are aware that once God created, it was beautiful. Everything was perfect till a time when sin crept in and sin crept in through an act of disobedience on the part of the first couple that God had positioned in the garden of Eden. Now, up until then, I said the world was perfect. So they were able to exercise their dominion and authority, which we've been talking about so far, on the world or on the earth. But once sin crept in, there was a change in the dynamics of this authority. How can we know that? If we look at Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4 verses 5 through 8, I'm not going to ask you all to read it out, but this is the passage where the Lord Jesus is being tempted. And at that time it's interesting to note how Satan tells Jesus that if only you bow down and worship me, I will give you the kingdoms of this world. That's why we ask the question. How is it that Satan is offering the kingdoms of the world to Jesus? Wasn't it God's original intention that the earth or the world should be under the dominion of man? So God had positioned man in a place of dominion and authority. But here is Satan saying, I will give you the kingdoms of this world. So obviously there has been some change in the dynamics of the authority, which was originally given to man and now somehow it seems to have shifted into the hands of the devil. So this has happened because of the fall or the corruption of the world through sin. So the authority which man was supposed to exercise, Satan is now exercising upon the kingdoms of the world. And scriptures also talk about saying he is the Lord of this world, but Satan is now ruling and reigning over the kingdoms of this world as the God of this world with the small G. So this is how we perceive the change or the shift in the dynamics of dominion and authority. So what needed to be done when this happened, when the authority shifted, obviously God was gracious enough to plan our redemption, send his son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross. And anyone who believes in him, now we become the children of God and John 112, we become the children of God and not just that, we become a part of his kingdom. And so the authority which was originally taken away from us is now given back to us because of us being in Christ Jesus. Now here is the second thing that I want us to see. So when God gave man dominion and authority and also stewardship, he acted with the affairs of the world. In other words, there was a deputization or God had assigned man the responsibility of taking care of the world. So it's like giving a home to a tenant. When we give the home to a tenant, do we go back and keep checking? Have you mowed your lawn? Have you swept your fire? Have you mopped and do that because the house now is under the care of the tenants. So this is just an example for us to understand that people have been given the authority over and so everything that takes place within that space is now their responsibility. And in the same way we here on the earth, a man kind of been made in the likeness of God, we have been vested with God's authority and dominion and it becomes our responsibility to take care of the affairs of the world. And I might as well add that you would find that God does not keep interrupting and intercepting the way things are playing out here in the world. Because this deputization is complete. He has handed it over to man and he expects man to take responsibility. So while God works and God is sovereign, we'll talk about it a little later. We also carry a responsibility to partner with God. Remember I said I'll talk to you more about it and I think now we understand better. Since we have been given the responsibility of the world, we have to partner with God. There is something that we need to do, he'll do it. Or God can, he'll do it. God wants, so he'll do it. Yes God knows, God wants, God can, but there is a need for man to partner. And after the redemption, we as believers, we need to partner with God and His Holy Spirit to see the works of the Kingdom accomplished. So this is how we understand the partnership that God intends for us. Okay, so at this point any questions, any thoughts from all of us? Okay, seems like it's quite clear. So I'll quickly move forward. Now that we have understood this aspect, when it comes to partnering with God in prayer, how would it look? That's the question you're asking. So as we look at examples from scripture, we see that God declares His purpose. Okay, and we have to align with the purpose of God through our obedience. Yes, but also through our prayers. God declares His will, God declares His purpose. And we as believers, we partner together with God. So here in our notes, we have the examples of Elijah and Daniel from the Old Testament. So Elijah is a prophet. We know that he would receive communication from God. And there are two instances where we notice God spoke to him about the land and God spoke to him about the rains that, hey, it's not going to rain and then it is going to rain. So Elijah knew the intention of God. He knew the purpose of God. And this is there for us in 1 Kings chapter 17, 1 Kings chapter 18. And then again, this prayer of Elijah is talked about in James chapter 5. And you can look at the references in your notes. So when God's will is revealed to Elijah, what did Elijah do? Take a good nap. Like, okay, now I know what God is going to do. Let me just relax. He will do it. He wants to send rain. This is 1 Kings 18. So it is going to rain. I will just go sleep, wake up. And by the time I wake up, you know, it'll all be, everything will be drenched because God would have accomplished His purpose. At least that is what we would expect from Elijah, but that's not what he did. We are aware that Elijah, when he heard that God was going to send rain. I'm talking about 1 Kings 18. He informs the king about what is going to take place. That's very bold of him because he believed in what God spoke into his life. God said, it's going to rain in you. It is going to rain. No, going back on God's word. So boldly he goes ahead and he informs the king. And the next thing he does is he goes up on a mountain and he prays. Isn't it? So he takes time in prayer. And this is the unique thing that I want us to take notice of. Even after Elijah heard from God, even after Elijah was convinced that God is going to do this, Elijah chooses to pray. He goes ahead and he prays. Did it begin to rain immediately after Elijah started praying? No, it did not. We see that he had to pray seven times. So Elijah even persevered in prayer seven times. And only after that did he see a cloud as a fist of a man. So it was the beginning or the signs of the beginning of rain, which finally was information he needed to swing into action. After persevering in prayer and seeing the cloud, that's when we are told that he caught up. He began to run. He ran faster than the chariots because he wanted to escape the mighty rains which God was going to pour out that he had already promised. So this is a wonderful example of partnering with God. It seems like Elijah knew what we are talking about this morning or today. That though God reveals his purpose, it's not automatic that it will happen. God also wants us to partner together with him in prayer. Sometimes we ask questions, why is it like this? Why is the church still like this? Why are these things not happening in the church? Why is the city not saved? Why isn't the word of God going out to the ends of the nation? We ask all these questions, but we must also understand why it is the will of God for his word to save many souls and the church to be a glorious church. God is looking for us to partner in many ways. And now we are talking about partnering in prayer. So partnering in prayer plays a role. When we pray, God is able to bring into manifestation what he has already intended. So that is something we learn from the life of Elijah. We will also look at the life of Daniel. So again, just want to pause a bit to check if everyone is okay. If the information is going in. Yeah, it seems like there's a question. Which one? Yeah, I'll go to that. Okay, so we'll go back to what we've been talking about. The class's purpose and we are supposed to pray it through. Even Daniel is a wonderful example because God had revealed in... God had revealed much early on through the prophecies of Jeremiah and all that Daniel and his people, they will be set free from their exile. That there will come a time when they would be free to leave. Oh, have a lot. Daniel was aware of these truths. But the beautiful thing is he began to pray. When the time was approaching, he began to pray. He began to partner together with God. He began to seek the Lord for the manifestation of God, what God had already declared. So somehow, I believe that even these people who were much before the cross, they seem to have the understanding that God wants us to partner together with him in prayer. So how much more? That we should have this understanding and also partner together with God. So one of our students here, she wanted me to read out the quote which is in the notes. This is John Wesley's quote where he says, God does nothing on the earth save in answer to believing prayer. That sounds as if things are dependent on man. Let me read that again. God does nothing on the earth save in answer to believing prayer. So there is the need for believing prayer for God to do even his declared purposes. Even John Wesley understood this. And we've seen how others in the Bible also walk with this revelation. So what I want us to believe us to recognize is that we have a responsibility. We have been called, scriptures tell us in Romans chapter 8, 16 and 17, that we are now co-heirs in Christ Jesus. Co-heirs means we have an inheritance, but we also have the position of authority and dominion. And God is expecting us now that we are redeemed and we are in Christ Jesus, that we take our position to partner together with God in prayer. Yes, God has revealed his will about so many different things. What did he want the church to be? He wanted the church to be a very strong entity, isn't it? We see in Matthew 16, 18 and 19, he said, I give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So he's already vested us with dominion and authority. When we are vested with this kind of authority, where our words carry power and our prayers carry power, God expects us to step in and do what we need to do. And in this case, we're talking about partnering together with God in prayer. So the church has to arise in prayer. As individuals, we need to arise in prayer. Yes, there is the revealed will of God. So many things have been spoken about the church, how the church will rise up and how the church will be filled with the glory of God, how the power of God will be manifest in the church, how that science wonders and miracles will follow the preaching of God's word. There are so many things revealed in God's word for us. We have the responsibility to pray it all through. We have to rise up and do our part. So we have to be engaged in what God has called us to do. We may wonder that, hey, why can't God just do it all by himself? But this is what he has chosen. He has chosen to work together with man. So the affairs of man, God will not interfere. Whatever we need and whatever we need to know, God has revealed that much for us. So when we get a hold of it, we need to arise and do what God calls us to do. Pray and partner together with God. The church is being made joint as in being vested with kingdom authority. It needs to really rise up and take up its position. So I'll move forward to the next section again about the self-sufficiency of God and his dependence on prayers of man. Any questions from you at this point? Since prayer is so common, all believers we engage in it. So we've so far talked about what prayer means. Okay, wonderful. So Krisha says yes. We'll move on then. So let's touch upon this next subject here, which is the self-sufficiency of God. What did John Wesley say? God does not do anything on the earth except in response to believing prayer. Oh, that's a statement to make. It shakes up our understanding of what prayer can do and also what God can do. It sounds like the ability of God is being questioned. But that's not the point. The ability of God is not under question here. Is God all able? Yes, he is. That is the nature of God. God is defined by his omnipotence. That is one of the features of God, which we cannot question. He's omnipotent. He has created the world. He sustains the world. No questions asked. So God is that powerful. Okay, I'll just pause as a question here. Yes, please. Only say a word. Not a problem. Go ahead. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing. So we had one of our students here share about the understanding that the Roman centurion had about authority. In Matthew 8, when his servant was sick, Jesus was willing to go to his house. But the centurion says, when I give an instruction to my soldiers, they do it. If I say, come, they come. If I say, go, they go. So my words carry authority. And therefore Jesus, you being the king of kings and the lot of lords of this universe, how much authority you carry? You just have to say a word and my servant will be healed. No, no scriptures tell us. In fact, scriptures tell us immediately in that very hour. The servant was made well. So that is the kind of authority that we are talking about. And Jesus has given us that authority. So just coming back to what we were looking at, we said that we're not questioning the ability of God. Can God do? Is God all able? The answer is always yes. He can. Can God not stop all the crimes that are taking place in our city, in our nation? Answer is, He can. No, can God not take away all the sicknesses right away? Answer is yes. But we have to look at these things from the perspective of the word of God. Because the word of God have to say, God is able, but He has... we can talk about He has already done what He needs to do. Romans 832, right? I think it says, He who gave His only Son will not give us all things. Everything that we need for life, God isn't it? So He has already done the work of redeeming us on the cross. Now whose responsibility is it to enforce? It is our responsibility. God has done His part and on the cross what did Jesus say? It is finished. It is finished. And therefore, as a believer, I need to step in and say, God, what is it that you want me to do? We just talked about us being co-heirs with Jesus. We are co-heirs carrying that authority and partnering with Him. So, everything that He wants us to do, fulfill the great commission, go into all the world, pray, we'll do it. Minister the power of God into people's lives and situations, we'll do it. So, God is willing, able, but the point here is, we have to do what we need to do. And that's where, God's dependence on the prayers of man come in. We also saw Elijah. Elijah prayed. But until Elijah prayed, nothing happened. No manifestation happened. Promises are there. There are so many promises in God's Word. Will they not all come to pass automatically? You see, God is sovereign. He sometimes, even without us praying, good things happen. So even without us asking, God releases miracles into our lives. But here is the normal way in which God works. God works through our faith. God works through our prayers. So, we need to do what God wants us to do. And continue to seek after God. There are a couple of scriptures here that I want to read for us. Jeremiah 29, verse 12. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. So, God is inviting us. And he is saying, come on, let's do this. You pray. I will listen to you. And Jeremiah 33, he will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know. So, there is an invitation where God is saying, let's partner. Let's pray and see great things take place. I will also talk a little bit about how Jesus himself partnered with Father God. If there was one person who could be exempt from prayer or the practice of prayer, it must be the Son of God, isn't it? He has a good excuse to say, I am already the Son of God. I am already a part of the Trinity. I don't need to be praying and spending time in prayer. However, you notice that he used to pick a certain place, he used to pick a certain time and there was so much prayer in his lifestyle. So, Jesus constantly spent time with the Father. He partnered in prayer and then what happened? After Jesus prayed, he went out to do for his mark by miracles. His teaching carried so much authority. So, Jesus himself has given us this example of partnering together with God in prayer. So, if he has done it, we don't have any excuse to not do it. Jesus encouraged the people to spend time in prayer in Luke 18 1. I will read this and then we can take a small break. Luke 18 1, it says, then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. So, an encouragement again for us from the life of Jesus. But Jesus says, even if things are taking time, don't worry. Continue to pray. Don't become discouraged. Don't lose heart. You need to pray. You need to persevere in prayer. And that's when great things will start taking place in our lives. So, at this point, let's break and we will come back at 10 a.m., 10 minutes break. The online students, you don't have to cut the call. You could just go on mute and your cameras are already off. So, we'll just come back in 10 minutes. See you soon. Thank you.