 All right, so let's continue. I know the online students couldn't ask any questions. So now's your chance. If there was something you wanted to discuss, please feel free. You can unmute and ask. We can talk about it and then move ahead. We're talking about earnestly praying and persisting to see the answers to our prayer. Which are some prayers where we need to pray repeatedly or where we need to persist. Any categories that you can think of, maybe out of your own experience, some prayers where we have to trust God, wait in prayer to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit. But actually, for gifts of the Holy Spirit, as long as we have faith, we can start moving in it. Receiving can happen quickly, actually. Only thing, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can receive the gifts, but there's something known as developing or maturing the gifts. That takes time. But for that, you don't have to wait so long. If you build your faith, you can receive fast. Anything else where we have to wait a little longer to see God's answers? Lucy says revival. You've also mentioned calamities. I didn't get that. Any other matters where we've prayed and waited upon the Lord? The question is, when we pray, why is evil attacking so much? That's their job. So whether we pray or whether we don't pray, there will be attacks. So don't worry too much about the attacks. Don't worry, because it's a given. We are, as a believer, we are living in, it's like war zone. Spiritually, we are all in war zone. And therefore, attacks will come and go. Don't think too much about it. Don't waste too much time on attacks. If it comes, just deal with it and overcome it and keep moving on. I can feel the questions bubbling, but it's not coming to the surface. So I am having to wait persistently to listen to your questions. Okay, here coming to the comments on the chat. Lucy says, she's mentioned a particular state that is going through issues right now. Jennifer, breakthrough. Breakthrough, correct. So some breakthroughs that we are looking for maybe professionally in the ministry or personal life, certain breakthroughs. Yes, it may take time. How about things like healing? Sometimes we pray for long time, right? That God, we want to see the manifestation of healing in this person's body or how about somebody who has gone away from God. We are praying for them to accept Christ, come back to the Lord and we may feel that it's taking a while. So these are all matters where we must be persistent. Look at James chapter 5. We will read verse 16 to verse 20 and then I will move on. Can somebody read this passage please? James chapter 5 verse 16 till verse 20. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effect of fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that he would not reign and it did not reign on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave reign and the earth produced its fruit. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Okay, so look at some prayer points or requests in this passage. Earlier in verse 16 it says confess your trespasses to one another, pray for one another that you may be healed. Okay, so healing, it's talking about healing. Then move on, let's move on and we see verse 19. It says anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back. So these are two situations where prayer for the sick or prayer for somebody who's wandered away from God, generally there's a need to be persistent like that widow, right? Who went back to the ruler again and again and said, no, I want justice. I want justice. I want to see this happen. So in matters particularly healing, particularly when we are praying for someone to come back to the Lord, we need some consistency. Okay, so we have to press in. Now, coming back to one example from the life of Daniel, we find that Daniel, we talked about how he had a lifestyle of prayer and we also see that he was moving in a lot of revelation. So God would speak to him, God would show him things. Sometimes those matters, he won't get understanding for it. But we'll find that Daniel is usually praying. He's praying more, he's fasting more. As he's praying, as he's fasting, God gives him more and more understanding about even the prophetic words that he's receiving. So it's a very encouraging life, a man who prayed so much and prayed consistently. So there's a particular matter and this is regarding the exile or this is regarding the Israelites coming out of Babylon. So through the prophet Jeremiah, there was a prophecy that after 70 years, 70 years of being in Babylon, the children of Israel will come out of Babylon. It was already spoken by Jeremiah. You find even Ezra mentioning it and the passages are given here in our notes. So we could say that there is a prophetic word, that something is going to happen. Remember earlier Elijah, Elijah also had a prophetic word that is going to rain. But what did Elijah do about it? He still prayed even though prophetic word is there, that something is going to happen. He knew one principle. That principle is we have to pray. Even if there is a prophetic word, so you know, we are familiar, somebody says a prophetic word. God is going to use you like this. God is going to do mighty things in your life. What to do with that prophetic word? We have to pray. Elijah prayed with the prophetic word. Now, what did Daniel do regarding the prophetic word about Israel? We find that Daniel prayed. Okay. So Daniel chapter 9, you can read the entire passage verse 1 to verse 24. Over there he talks about how the people were in captivity, they were suffering. But according to the promise of God, he is asking God to make it a reality that they can leave Babylon. Because God's word says 70 years, not more than 70 years. So this is a lesson for us. Even when God tells us his will. That's not the end. When we come to know the will of God regarding any matter, what should we do about it? We must pray. We know God is going to do this. Maybe a personal prophecy or maybe a prophecy for the state or the nation. We must pray. God did not just tell us so that we'll only know. We must use it in prayer. That is the example of Elijah. That is the example of Daniel. So consistency in prayer or persistence in prayer, it must be used this way. So I'll move on to the next topic here which is regarding intercession. Unless there are any clarifications from your side. Anything about persistence, delays? Yes, Jennifer, you have a question? Yes ma'am. So I have been praying for one particular person for a long time for his salvation. But it is not happening. But I'm not sure why. My other prayers are being answered if I pray. But for this particular person, how many times I pray it's not happening. I try to share in the word everything. But he is completely opposing it. So just as I discussed now, Jennifer, when we talk about someone coming back to the Lord or someone accepting Christ. These are matters where we must persevere. These things don't happen for whatever reason. We see that it takes some amount of time. So I can only tell you to be patient. I can only tell you to pray and see what revelation God gives. Sometimes God can give some wisdom. Wisdom such as maybe that person needs to go for some... I mean you can send them somewhere to be counseled or something else can be done to help them. But that wisdom only God can give you. So just be patient, Jennifer. Does that answer your question? Yes ma'am. Okay, sure. Thank you. Thank you for that. Anything else? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Correct. So see there are two aspects. One is concern. Okay. The other is control. So we must function in that zone of concern. So in the zone of concern we will pray. We will spend time. We will show them Christ's love. All that. So the seed of God's word. All that's there. But we cannot change them. Because see God has given all of us free will. And we have talked about it. He never overrides human free will. Now that person coming to Christ. It also depends on their response. But what happens to some of us? We move from that concern to somewhere control. You have to. You have to. You have to do this. You say the sinner's prayer. But what are we doing? We are actually forcing them. Even God doesn't do that. God does not control. He doesn't control any of us. He's given us full freedom. That's how it should be. So I understand. I think the tension comes there. Because we are doing our part. But from their side. Apart from God working in their lives. Their response also is very important. So through our prayers we can influence. We can't control. Yeah. So we have to be very patient. There's no other way. It comes to this. Good. Yes. Which one? Yeah. Yeah. So confess your trespasses. To one another. And pray for one another. Okay. So you see that there are some matters. Where. To find healing. Healing of the heart. Healing of the body. We have to. Set the relationship right. With people. That's where confess your sins comes in. Okay. Or maybe. In some situations. I say. I have made a mistake. Now. I may need to confess it to a godly person. Who can be trusted. In order for the healing to come. So. It's not applicable. I would say. All the time. Like every sin. To confess it to another human being. Is not. Not mandated. Jesus Christ. He's our mediator. So in the situation. Where I may have made a mistake. I need to confess to God. Confess your sins to God. And he will forgive. He will heal. But. In some situations. We have to confess to one another. Or we may need to confess to. You know an elder. Or a more mature person in Christ. What happens as a release in our heart. There's a piece that comes in. Okay. Because. Confession right. If you take this as a standard rule. You go and start telling everybody about your sins. Or you start telling everybody. About the mistakes you made. It's. It can actually be quite. You know like. We don't know how people will react right. Some people will treat it wisely. But some people will not treat it wisely. So. You don't have to confess to everyone. You need to be quite wise about it. Fine. Yeah. So we can be spirit led about it. If you feel that yeah. This thing I have to confess. Then you should do it. One question. Persistence in prayer. Okay. And always the demonic. Opposition is happening. So how he's overcome the situation. On. He was the very obedient person in the prayer. With God. Can you come again? Okay. The person is persistency in prayer. Okay. And he. With the obedient with the God. And. Always the demonic opposition which happening. And he's not answering that. So how to overcome that situation. Okay. How to overcome that situation. So we have to engage in spiritual warfare. So. We've talked about different kinds of prayer. Right. So there is one category. Where we have. We can pray to God. And God will send his angels. He'll do whatever required to break that interference. Of demons. But at the same time. In spiritual warfare. There are many things you can use the name of Jesus. You can use the blood of Jesus. The power of the blood of Jesus. You can declare about the blood of Jesus. You can bind. You can lose. So in spiritual warfare there are many things. That. We will talk about these things later. We have to start engaging in that. So. When we perceive that there is demonic opposition. We have to switch. The person following all the patterns. If the person following all those prayer patterns. Then. Yeah. If the person is following all those things. Then I think you just have to be patient. See. Patience is something that. You can't. You know. You just have to wait. There's no other way. Fine. I think we've addressed this. Issue of persistence in prayer quite elaborately. We can move on to intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer. What is it? Intercession we discussed last time. What is intercessory prayer? What is a simple answer? I'm not able to hear you very well. Praying for others. Praying for others. Yes. Praying for others. Praying for others. Was that a different answer? Same. Praying for others is intercession. What is that? Now. When we talk about the best intercessor for us. Who is it? The answers are coming. But with very little confidence. Not too sure. Okay. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the answer. Correct answer. That Jesus is our best intercessor. Now. When we consider intercession. We only think that. We speak to God. Regarding a matter. We speak to God. Regarding a person. But in the life of Jesus. He did an act of intercession. So it was more than speaking the intercession. It was. It was demonstrating. Or performing. Or doing. A work of intercession. How did he do intercession? We look at it. So Isaiah chapter 53. It's there in our notes. Would somebody like to read it? Isaiah 53 verse 12. The last part there. He bore the sin of many. And made intercession for the transgressors. Okay. So it says he bore. So when we read the text in the Bible. To get its original meaning. You have to go back to the language in which it was written. So a lot of the New Testament is in Greek. This portion is in Hebrew. So we have to look at the Hebrew words there. He bore the sin of many. In English it is. He bore the sin of many. But going back to the Hebrew text. What is that word which is used there? That word is NASA. NASA. And what does it mean? NASA means. To lift. To carry away the burden. So imagine if you are carrying a big table. Okay. And you're coming from upstairs to downstairs. And it's quite heavy on you. Somebody comes and they help you. They lift it off from you. They carry it away. That burden. It's like NASA. Somebody has lifted it off. So what did Jesus do for us? The heavy burdens that we carried. He lifted it off of us. So he bore the sin of many. What did he carry away? Our sin. He carried. Now let's look at that some more. And he made intercession. It says did that mean that you know Jesus was talking something to God. When he was going to the cross what does it mean? Intercession. Because we understand intercession as praying to God for somebody. But what intercession is this talking about? So that word intercession we have to look it up in the Hebrew. In the Hebrew. It is the word meet. Oh sorry. Paga. Which means to meet. That simply gives us the picture that Jesus carried away our sins. And he met with God. He met with God. For the transgressors. He met with God. Paga also means laid on him. So the sins were laid on him. The sins of the transgressors were laid on him. So we understand that what Jesus did was two things. He met with God on behalf of the sinners. And he carried the burden of the sinner which is sin away. He lifted it off of the sinner. This is the form of intercession that Jesus did for us. So isn't it something like how we do? When we pray what are we actually doing? We are carrying somebody else's burden. Yes or no? Someone else has a problem. Someone else has a concern. Someone else has an issue. But I am praying for them. In other words, just like Jesus. Jesus carried NASA. He lifted off. He carried the burden. I am carrying somebody else's burden just like Jesus. Because Jesus also did that. Obviously we cannot carry other people's sins because he is the saviour of the world. But in intercession we have the opportunity to carry in prayer. That's something we can do to bless other people. Pray for them. Carry other people's burdens. Now what else did Jesus do? We said that he went to God on behalf of the transgressors. Transgressor is nothing but sinner. People who don't keep the law. If you break the law, it's called transgression. So those who don't keep the law transgressors or sinners Jesus went to the father on behalf of the sinners. What do we do in intercession? Same thing. We go to God on behalf of maybe, you know, my family member or my church person or my friend. I am going to God on behalf of someone. Same. Similar to what Jesus did. But what Jesus did was a one-time sacrifice act of intercession. In action he performed intercession. And what else did Jesus do on the cross? We understand that, see for the world, Jesus dying on the cross was foolishness. Paul talks about it. He says, look for people don't understand that, you know, the cross is the wisdom of God. But in God's mind Jesus dying on the cross was the best idea. Why? One is the sins of the world are carried. Second is Satan was defeated forever because Jesus went on the cross. Now if Jesus was not to do that for us, today we must only live defeated lives. You got it? But because Jesus went on the cross we now have victory. So it was God's best act of intercession. So Satan was defeated by Jesus's act of going on the cross. Today, when you and I pray for someone, what happens what is released in their lives? God's victory, God's blessings, Satan is already defeated, right? The destruction of Satan, we are speaking it again and we are speaking about the victory of God. So three things, three things that Jesus did, very similar to what we do in intercession. But obviously it's only Jesus the Son of God who could do the act of intercession. But we can now pray in intercession. So what are the three things? One is to carry others burdens. Second is to go to God on behalf of others. And the third one is to release the victory of God into people's lives and declare the defeat of Satan. So what is Jesus doing right now? What is his role right now? We know he went on the cross. He died, he was buried, he rose from the dead. Where is Jesus now? He's praying for us, correct? Where is he? In heaven, correct? That's what the Bible says. He's in heaven at the right hand of the Father. And what is his role? Yes, he's an intercessor. He is our High Priest. He is our High Priest. So one of the roles of the High Priest also when we study about High Priest we'll understand what did the High Priest do. Even High Priest went into the Tabernacle, went into the presence of God to meet with God on behalf of the people and when the High Priest will come out the High Priest will be you know, he will speak to the people on behalf of God. So that was the role of the High Priest. So Jesus the Bible tells us Jesus is our High Priest forever. The earlier High Priest they used to, they were all human beings. So they all died, right? One by one they do their role and they die. But we have High Priest who is compassionate and who is there for us forever and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our High Priest forever and what is the work that he does in heaven he intercedes he intercedes for us. Now when we say that Jesus is interceding for us then why should we intercede? Why double? He is doing already. So maybe we can take a rest. What do you think? Jesus is our intercessor Jesus is our High Priest should we stop praying? Because he is praying. Should we stop praying or should we not stop praying? When in doubt just look up a scripture that gives clarity go to John 16 verse 26. Can one of us read it? John 16 and verse 26. John 16 and verse 26 In the day you will ask in my name and I would not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and believe that came forth from God. Can you just repeat that first line? In the day you will ask in my name and I would not say to you I shall pray the Father for you. So it's quite clear in that day you will ask the Father. So we have a task or a role in prayer. We are supposed to pray. That's why Jesus taught us so many things about prayer. He himself prayed and he is also saying I am not saying that I will ask the Father for you. So just because Jesus is an intercessor we should not think that our praying is replaced by the praying of Jesus. We still have to pray because that is a role which we have to fulfil. His part he is doing. But you know whenever we talk about Jesus as the intercessor please understand it's not like you know every time Jesus is in heaven. The Bible also says that Jesus is our advocate one John chapter 2 and verse 1 where we understand who an advocate is who is an advocate or a lawyer somebody who is pleading our case or who is fighting on our behalf so the picture we get is that Jesus is in heaven and he is fighting our case every time because the Bible says he is our advocate it's as if each time Jesus has to stand up and fight on my behalf and fight on somebody else's behalf and there are so many people imagine everyone's behalf Jesus has to stand up and fight the cases but it's actually not like that the way it works is through the cross through the work of the cross Jesus has already justified all of us okay he's already fought on our behalf he's already defeated the devil so as an advocate and as an intercessor we have to depend on his work on the cross so every time Jesus does not have to stand up and justify are you understanding what I'm trying to say so we are depending on the work of the cross that is where we put our trust that Jesus is my advocate Jesus is my intercessor that work that Jesus has done on the cross has already spoken so much that he does not have to get up each time to fight on our behalf so this is how we understand Jesus as an intercessor Jesus as an advocate and the Bible says that he makes intercession for us and he saves to the atom most Hebrews 7 verse 25 can someone look at that verse Hebrews 7 and verse 25 by faith they pass through the red sea as by dry land is it Hebrews 7 yeah 725 therefore he's also able to save to the atom most those who come to God through him since ever lives to make intercession for them okay so he is able to save to the atom most so that just tells us how powerful the work of Jesus on the cross really is that work it's a saving work which can save people who may be even very very far away from God but he saves to the atom most, atom most means like to the ends atom most ends of the world we use terms like that so it just goes to say that the intercessory work of Jesus on the cross it's so powerful that it can save in other words the worst sinner if they respond to God if they believe in God even they can be saved and this is what Jesus has done for us he's already done a powerful work of intercession and him being a high priest he is representing who we have become in Christ Jesus so every time you think of Jesus as a high priest you can be reassured of your own identity in Christ Jesus who we have become how God has forgiven us and how he has changed our lives so that's a little bit about Jesus and his work of intercession we find that there are several other intercessors in the Bible Jesus of course is our best intercessor but then you have people like Abraham remember we said Sodom and Gomorrah he went he was trying to talk to God on behalf of the people that is what intercession is right so Abraham was an intercessor Moses was an intercessor remember he was talking to God on behalf of his people God please forgive them please help us so Moses as a leader acted as an intercessor for the people so you see that everywhere there is a need for intercessors and that's why God has allowed that for us to be intercessors even in the case of Job you recall I said we read some verses they are already there in our notes here but we won't read it again but in his difficult situation Job was looking for an intercessor somebody to pray for him so today if God puts someone in our hearts we must intercede for them pray for them and that way God's power will be released in that person's life even Job in a tough situation all he asked for was I wish there was somebody who can intercede there is a word there in verse 33 he asks for a mediator Job 933 he says is there any mediator who can go to God on behalf of me mediator is any person who can plead with God on behalf of a person so same thing applies today that we can pray for others and we can really uphold others in that time of difficulty so God is looking for intercessors what I'll do is I think I'll just stop here for now we'll come back and we will look at a lot more regarding the subject of intercession but I just want us to go back and review review the work of Jesus on the cross as an intercessory work try to spend more time on that try to understand that and then we will come back and discuss little more regarding praying for others is that okay sure alright so we will wrap up now but are there any questions before we stop questions or comments so looks like there are no questions so we can stop or would anyone like to pray where's the mic we'll close with prayer oh you have a question which one? first Timothy 2.5 Jesus only the one intercessor between us and the God but here another Abraham and Moses another two intercessors mentioned here so that's not my question why see one mediator between God and man means that we can go to God you have to understand that Abraham was before the cross right Abraham was before the cross so after the cross what the scripture means is that we can go directly to God because of what Jesus has done he's the one mediator between God and man now in some beliefs they think that you need maybe an elder or a leader or even sometimes people refer to saints like you pray to them they will go to God on your behalf and they will make your prayer heard but the Bible very clearly says there's only one mediator between God and man who's that Jesus Christ so we actually don't need to go to any any other person for our prayer to be heard got it now Abraham as a mediator any difference there that you're asking me about or what is it? yeah so you have to understand the context both are correct okay so when we talk about Jesus as a mediator what we are saying is we don't need any other human being to make a sacrifice for us or do the work with Jesus did because only one work is valid or approved and that is the work of Jesus but when you talk about Abraham and Moses we are talking about leadership okay so leaders are supposed to pray for their people so the context is different Vicky that's the only difference you got it what I'm trying to say not sure okay that's true yeah so one mediator between God and man to take away the sin of mankind it's only Jesus it's nobody else Abraham and Moses are as leaders they can pray for their people so the context is different when you talk about the sin being removed, the blessings coming through Satan being defeated only Jesus is that mediator but there are others that would be like people who are in authority structures in this case Abraham and Moses are leaders of the people so they can pray so it's a different context sure I'll just leave it at that so we'll pray and we'll close is that a question some question? no fine who would like to pray the mic is in that place okay great let's pray yeah go ahead Miriam loving father we thank you for this day we thank you for your word thank you for speaking to us about father thank you for the wisdom and knowledge that you have given and to us King of Glory father we want to thank you for our teachings we thank you lord for opening our minds we thank you for the knowledge Jehovah wants to render everything unto you and all the teachings about father we pray that let these teachings find room in asking of glory that we may do this for your kingdom above father we worship you we bless your name we give you glory and honor in Jesus name we are prayed amen amen thank you thank you Miriam I appreciate that okay thank you everyone god bless you we'll meet you all in the next class