 Okay. Good morning. Welcome to all the on-campus students, the online students as well as the e-learning students who are also going through our content. We will begin with a word of prayer. Let me just start off. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time that you have given us. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to study your word. Lord, we pray that day by day, Lord, we will, Lord, become stronger in you and God that you will be able to release your purposes through each one of our lives. God, this morning we speak blessings upon all the students, their families. And Lord, we also pray, God, that if there be any concerns, any burdens that each one is carrying, that Lord, they will see your intervention in those situations. Lord, we thank you that you're a prayer answering God. We bless you and honor you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. All right. So we have spoken about the right foundations for prayer. And we said that it's not just about praying, but the heart with which we pray and the understanding with which we pray makes prayer effective and successful. So today we will move on from there and go to chapter 3 where we will learn about the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our model. He is our pattern and He is our example. When you want to look at someone who can be that picture for us to follow, it is the Lord Jesus. When we look at his life and especially his prayer life, it speaks volumes about the importance that he placed on prayer and daily communion with God. So if you want to follow someone in scripture, we could look at the lives of many men and women, but Jesus is the best example. And that is why we'll talk about the Lord Jesus. He is the one who expressed through his prayer life, his desire to pray that for him it looked as if he needed to pray a lot. But then when we study about who the Lord Jesus is, we understand he is the Son of God. He is the one who left behind his glory and came to the earth. So being the Son of God, we may ask the question, what is the need to pray so much? Because he is already part of the Trinity, who are the three members of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So the Lord Jesus is already part of the Trinity and in his life we see that he prayed a lot and it felt like he is engaging in prayer even though he is the Son of God. And that is something for us to wonder about. If he is already part of the Trinity, wouldn't it be easy to make things happen or to hear from the Father? But as a man, the Lord Jesus knew that there is something special about prayer and that is why he prayed a lot. If there is one person in the Bible whom we can exempt or we can excuse from prayer, it would be the Lord Jesus. Because we would say, you are the Son of God, you are already part of the Trinity. So there is really no need for Jesus to pray so much. But on the contrary, the one person who prayed a lot is Jesus. So it's amazing. Why is it that Jesus prayed so much? Any answers for that? Why did Jesus pray so much? He wanted to be an example. Any other reason why he could have prayed? So he set an example for us, one of the answers is, what else comes to your mind when you think about this question? What was the need for Jesus to pray? Why did he pray? Yes, communication with the Father, very good. So to speak to the Father, to connect with the Father, that's another answer why Jesus prayed so much. Any other reason to gain strength? We could say that to gain strength from God's presence and the Father. What else? Any other reason? Why is Jesus praying? So all these answers are very valid. Jesus prayed because he wanted to set a pattern for us. Jesus prayed to communicate with the Father. Jesus prayed because he needed strength to fulfil the assignment that God gave him on the earth. Now the biggest reason why Jesus prayed would be because he was fully man. So in heaven, he had a different glory. And the Bible says he left behind his heavenly glory and he became a man. Which means that here he did not have the things connected to the glory of God which he had in heaven. And so he had to live his life like a man, fully. And you remember, we had learnt earlier in our prayer and intercession course that when God created man, he gave him complete dominion and authority and said, you rule and reign. So one of the ways in which we express our dominion and authority is through prayer. And when Jesus became a man, he came into the same, you may call, design or system because he's fully man. And he too needed to engage in prayer in order for him to release that authority. So he was fully man, which is another good reason why Jesus also engaged in prayer. Okay, so let's keep aside the need. We were talking about the need. There is a need for prayer and so Jesus prayed. But when we study about the times when Jesus prayed, it seems like it's not only because it is a need but it is a want. There is a difference when we have a schedule or a timetable or an obligation, we push ourselves to pray or to do our devotions because it has to be done. It's a need. It has to be done or I want something from God. I go and pray because I need it. I have to do it. So there's a have to and there is a need that we talk about in these situations. But in the case of Jesus, we find that it was more of a desire. It was more of a want and that is so special. So Jesus did not pray because of necessity alone, but Jesus also prayed because of his desire to be with the Father. And that is very clear when we read the Gospels, the way it is spoken of, you know, regarding his relationship with the Father. He never wanted to separate himself from the Father. Even when, you know, he was on the cross for a few moments when he felt that separation from the Father, he cried out. He said, you know, why have you forsaken me? Because one of the beautiful things about the relationship in the Trinity is the oneness, the closeness, the intimacy that the Godhead has. And Jesus never wanted to be separate from the Father. And that is another aspect to look at when we understand that Jesus loved to pray. He wanted to pray. It was not pushed on him or, you know, he was not compelled to pray. Okay. Are you all with me? Are you all? Yeah. Okay. So that's great. Let's keep going. So there are many scriptures that talk about Jesus going in for prayer or Jesus having prayed for a certain amount of time. We look at some of those scriptures. Mark chapter 1 verse 35. Could someone please read this verse for us? Mark 135. Now with the morning have risen a long while before daylight. He walked out and depended on solitary place and there he prayed. Thank you. Thank you, Aman. So here we understand that the Lord Jesus rose a while before daylight. It simply means it's the dawn. Usually when it, you know, before the sun rises and it's still dark, we use the term, you know, dawn. That's the time. The sun is going to rise in some time. And what Jesus has done in the scripture is he woke up long while before daylight. He went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed. So we all understand that this is not that easy. If it is trusted on you or if you're forced to wake up early in the morning and go pray, we may not feel the joy of doing it. But if Jesus is doing it and it clearly says nobody's asking him to do it, but he woke up before daylight, went to a solitary place, solitary places where you are alone and nobody's there to disturb you. So he picked the solitary place and there what did he do? He prayed. He spoke to the Father. He spent time with the Father. So it shows us something about Jesus and the importance that he placed on prayer. The first thing he does is to go and spend time with the Father. Solitary place because he doesn't want any disturbance. He wants to fully focus on that time with Father God. How beautiful. So he woke up early in the morning and he went and prayed. Now let's see. Was that sufficient for Jesus? Let's look at another scripture here. Mark chapter 6 versus two scriptures 45 to 46. Could somebody go ahead and read these as well? Immediately, he made his disciple get into the court and go before him the other side to Medcadar. While he sent multitude away and when he had sent them away, he depart to the mountain to pray. Okay, very nice. Thank you. So we see in this passage that the Lord Jesus was ministering to the people and after the ministry was over, what could we imagine Jesus desiring? Maybe a good rest or a good meal because he's tired. He has been serving the people. So we may think that Jesus will now choose to go and rest. However, the scripture is saying he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to Medcadar. While he sent the multitude away, meaning he sent the disciples. He sent the multitude. Multitude is the people who had come to hear Jesus and verse 46 it says, and when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. So it seems like Jesus was intentional about making time for God or the Heavenly Father. Even when he's tired, he sees an importance in spending time in prayer. If it were one of us, I'm just thinking maybe myself after a long day of ministry, when we are exhausted, we just want to go back, meet family, maybe just have a good meal and sleep early. But look at what the Lord Jesus is saying, doing. He sent everybody away. He made alone time for himself. He went alone to the mountain to do what? To pray. So there's something very important about prayer and that's what we can understand from the life of Jesus. It was not just a necessity, but there is something about his connect with the Father. The way he loves the Father, the way the Father loves him and the amount of time that he wants to spend with the Father. So these are things that we will build on as we go further. Here in the comments, there are posts which say that I mentioned that the Lord Jesus was fully man and the comment here says, but Jesus was fully divine. You're right. So that is what we call as a mystery. Jesus was 100% man, but he was 100% God. But how do we capture that and how do we understand what has happened? It's very difficult to understand. It's quite, maybe the human mind cannot really grasp how this is possible. That Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. But we can look at it this way. He's fully God. He left behind his glory. When he came to the earth, he came as a man. That is one way of looking at it. The other way of looking at it is the attributes of God. Do you have Christology this semester? Not yet. Okay, so you will have a subject called Christology. Even in that you will learn about the Lord Jesus. So there are these attributes of God, such as God is all-knowing. God is all-powerful. God is omnipresent, meaning he's present everywhere. But when Jesus came to the earth, when he took the form of a man, he left behind those attributes. All-knowing, all-powerful, all-present everywhere. No, we can't share that about Jesus when he was a man because though he was fully God, he was limited in the human body. He was only present in one place at a time and he also needed the power of the Holy Spirit to minister to people. So he was not all-knowing as he would be in his heavenly glory. So things like that. So the attributes of being deity, being God, Jesus left those behind and he became fully man. So this is how we understand. He was fully man but he was also fully God. So thank you for that comment. You're correct. When we say that he was fully man, we must say that he was fully God. Now moving on, we saw that the Lord Jesus loved praying. He made additional time for prayer. Let's look at another passage from Luke chapter 5 verses 15 and 16. Can someone read this for us? However, the report was around the connect, considering him all the more and the great multitude came together to hear. And to be heard, healed, healed, sorry, by him there, infirmities show himself often withdraw into the wilderness and prayer. Okay, wonderful. Thank you. So here we notice that when Jesus was doing his ministry, it says the report went around concerning him all the more, meaning he's becoming popular. People are recognizing Jesus Christ and they know if we go to Jesus then we will experience a miracle or a healing or he is a teacher who teaches with authority. So Jesus is becoming very popular. So when he's becoming popular, we are told great multitudes came together to hear him and to be healed by him of their infirmities. Obviously, people will come from many different places to be ministered to by Jesus. So people came. Think about this. If we become popular, what would we do? We would love to enjoy the popularity. Just spend time with people. People will tell you how nicely, you know, whatever it is that you're doing, if you're singing, you're singing so well or you're playing an instrument, you're playing so well, you're speaking so well, you're doing this so well. So somewhere our tendency is to enjoy the popularity that we gain. Now what did Jesus do in the next verse? So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. So we could tell Jesus bad strategy. Now your popularity is rising. Jesus, you need to entertain the people who are coming to meet you. But what is Jesus doing? He goes away from the crowds. Why? To pray. So this is the life of Jesus. For him, prayer was very important. It was more important than sleep. It was more important than what did we see earlier than rest after a time of ministry. It is more important than fame, popularity. He prefers prayer. Okay, bye everyone. I have to go. I have to take time and prayer. I have an appointment with the Heavenly Father. I can't miss that appointment. So a lot of things for us to think about when we see the life of Jesus, the pattern of Jesus in prayer. Let's continue. Are you all enjoying what you're learning today? Okay, that's good. Okay, that's really nice. Let's look at Luke 6 verse 12. Now it came past 2. Okay, I'm sorry. We'll hand it over to one more person so we can all take turns. I think from behind, yeah, we can just, can we have the mic reach? Thank you. Thank you. We can all take turns. I think that will be nice also. So please go ahead. Luke 6 verse 12. Now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continue all night in prayer to God. Okay, so another way in which he spent time in prayer. What is that? The whole night. So if we are tired, then we just prefer to rest. We don't want anyone to disturb us. But Jesus is taking time the entire night to pray and he prayed to choose his disciples. He was going to make a decision regarding the disciples who should be in that group of 12. So when he is going to select those 12 disciples, he needs the Father's blessing, wisdom. You know, he needs to be in sync with the Father. What is it that the Father wants me to do? And for him to make the right decision, what did Jesus do? The whole night he prayed. And you remember even in the Garden of Gethsemane, what did he do? He prayed. So this is how Jesus lived his life. He prayed a lot anyhow. But in moments when he needed to make a decision or a choice or he was going through a difficulty, he prayed much more. And that is how we must pattern our prayer life following Jesus. Now John 6 and verse 15, we will pass the mic to another person, please. So let's all take turns that we will all have an opportunity. Therefore, when Jesus received that day, we are about to come and take him by force to make him king. He departed again to the mountain by himself alone. Wonderful. So this is again about not just popularity, it's about power. So we are told that there were people who wanted to come, take him forcefully to make him a king. But at that point, what did Jesus do? He was not interested. So when they want to make him a king, it refers to power and glory. Imagine, that was not his priority. He didn't want any power and dominion as a king or a ruler in that region. So he once again takes time to pray. So the Lord Jesus has his priorities straight and in the top of his list comes communion with the Father. Everything else we can miss but not communion with the Father, not times of prayer. And this is what we are talking about and we are saying, the Son of God is praying like this. We have no excuse when we say that again, can we go through some of the excuses that we all have? I know we talked about it in the last class but what are some of the excuses that we tell God as to why we are not able to pray? Yeah, we don't have time. That's an excuse. Okay, we promise but we forget that we have to pray. Unfortunate but this is the reality. What else happens? What are our excuses? Tired. Okay, we are tired so we can't pray. Lazy, sure, we are so lazy to pray. That's true. We are so busy, isn't it? Busy is another excuse where we hope that God will be convinced. God, I'm busy. God is like I'm more busy. I'm taking care of the whole world and I still have time for you. So we say, God, I'm so busy. That's another excuse. We think it's enough, meaning whatever time we are spending in prayer, we think that that much is sufficient. I don't have to spend more than that. So that also could be one of the excuses. Sister Getrud, I can see your hand raised. Do you want to say something? That was when you were explaining about Jesus that he was fully man. So he was also 100% divine. That's what I said in Karnat. So how did he perform miracles as a man? Okay, so yes, sister, I addressed that question and I added to that statement that I made. I said he was fully man, but I also said he was fully God. Now your follow up question to that is how did he do the miracles? Is that what you're asking? Yes. So I stated that earlier as well. So the miracles that he performed were by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Luke chapter 4, when you read about the Lord Jesus going into the wilderness, he fasts for 40 days and when he is coming back, you can see the scripture there. It says he came full of the Spirit. So he came full of the Spirit and power. So that is how he began the ministry. He began doing the ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's the same thing that he says in John chapter 14 later, where he says you shall do greater works than these because I go to the Father and then he goes on to talk about the Holy Spirit whom he's going to send. And that is why we as believers today can also move in the miraculous in the supernatural because we can be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit. That's how he did the miracles. Even today, as believers, we can do these things because of the Holy Spirit. I hope it clarifies your question. Yes, thank you sister. Sure, thank you. Brother Sanjay has a comment. We never forget to have our meals on time. How do I say this? You hit the nail on its head and it's quite painful to hear that. We don't forget to have our meals on time but prayer seems to be optional. We're not really hungry for spiritual food. That's an interesting thought. We're hungry for natural food but spiritual food, the level is not, you know, no appetite for our spiritual food. So thank you. Interesting comment there. These are the excuses that we all come up with. And as we can see, there were no excuses in the life of Jesus. As we develop ourselves as disciples, let's consider these things. The life of Jesus, the prayer life of Jesus. And know that it was a priority above many other so-called important things that people run after today. And the beauty of the prayer life of Jesus was that he never experienced failure. Meaning, each time he prayed to the Father, there was an answer. There was never a voice from heaven that said, you know, call me after 5pm or I'll talk to you tomorrow. No voice from heaven that said, your prayer is not accepted. So we see that the Lord Jesus was always making effective prayers, successful prayers, no failure in his prayer. Imagine this. At a crucial time, he's in a, you could say like a crisis situation because his friend Lazarus died 3 days ago. And he goes to that family and they're all crying, they're all in grief because their brother has died. And now they don't even trust that Jesus can do anything about this situation. But in such a situation in John chapter 11 was 41 and 42. I'm not, we're not going to read the whole passage but I'll just state a few lines. He said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me. But because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you sent me. Such a short prayer. But what is the task before him? Raise the dead man. So our thinking would be that we need to go into prayer and fasting for 10 days because he's a dead man. We have to come and raise the dead man. But what is Jesus doing? Two to three lines. He says, Father, I thank you that you've heard me. And I know that you always hear me. Meaning, I know my prayers are being heard. I know that you're working on my behalf. I know that answers are coming. So confident. And that's what Jesus is saying. You always hear me, Father. And because the people who are standing by are there, I said they may believe that you sent me. So he's only making this prayer allowed even to let the people know that he's praying. But otherwise, it's as if he's so in tune with the Father that he can say a word and the Father will just do it for him. So successful. Wouldn't we want a relationship like that with the Father? So it was not just the formula where we apply the formula and things work for us. It was more than that. So that is why when we began studying about prayer, we said prayer is about relationship. Yes, it is about getting answers, but it is more than that. It's about relationship. When we have a relationship with the Father, we build a relationship with the Father. We grow the relationship with the Father in a moment of crisis. This is crisis. Jesus is standing there. Everybody is looking at him. His friend has died. People are crying. It's really, I don't, I don't know how it feels to be in a situation like that. But Jesus is so confident. He says, Father, I know you always hear me. Okay. You always hear me. I thank you that you've heard me. So likely that he has already prayed for the resurrection of Jesus, a resurrection of Lazarus before. And that's why he's saying, such a short prayer, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. You've already heard me, Father. You'll do. And that's all. Then what did Jesus do? He just commanded. He said, Lazarus, come forth. And the dead man who's thinking for, you know, like all four days is coming out of the grave. So powerful. I'm sure, you know, everyone there would have been so shocked because they have not seen resurrections like this taking place. And here is Jesus. Very simple. Lazarus come forth and the dead man is coming. Not because he prayed a long prayer. Not because he spent hours fasting and crying and all, which is all important. We will talk about it later. But the point that I'm making is he'd already built that relationship with the Father praying all the time. So only in that moment to pray, maybe Jesus would have wanted to do it, but there was no occasion or no opportunity. And so he had to do this quickly. And even that was effective. That was successful. And the dead man came out. So this is the way in which the answers to Jesus's prayers really speak to us. For us as believers, we need to be like Jesus. Do we all agree upon that point? Yes. Should we be like Jesus? Can we be like Jesus? Okay. No answers to that question. Should we? Yes. But can we? No answers. We can. We can. That's why we have the Word of God here. As we are learning the Word of God, it transforms us. Yesterday I referred to that passage from Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, where we said that the Word of God is living and active. When you put it inside, it goes inside, it does a work. It does a work in our hearts. It does a work in our minds. It does a work in our body. It does a work in our relationships. It does a work in our lives. So yes, transformation is possible. Okay. Romans 829, that scripture says that we should be conformed into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, which means we must be shaped the way Jesus was shaped. You know, what we generally do is when it comes to artists, when they are just beginning to learn their skill, they have some exercises where they have to copy. So they will give them a painting and say, you paint just like this or there's a sculpture and maybe a piece of stone and you have to sculpt it out just like the original piece. So that piece of stone becomes like the original sculpture. What is happening to us as we engage with the Word of God, as we engage with the Spirit of God, as we engage in our relationship with Christ day by day, it's as if we are being sculpted into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, His character? And we could say His, the power with which He walked. We can walk in all these things and God will help us to become like Jesus. We need to be like Jesus and we can become like Jesus. When we say like Jesus, we are not talking about His deity because that is something we can never achieve. But the example that He was in His character, in His ministry, that yes, we can be shaped in that manner. So Matthew chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. Abiksha, would you please read? Would that be okay? Yeah, please pass the mic. A disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house, Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? Okay, thank you. So this comment from Jesus happened at a time when they were blaming Jesus and they were saying that He is from the great master of the house, Beelzebub. They call Him Beelzebub. Beelzebub is like a demon. He is a demon. So when they are calling Jesus Beelzebub, He is saying that why is it that we as believers should think that we will not face any opposition. Okay, so the context is that. But anyway, let's look at what we want to learn from this particular passage. In verse 24, He says a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. Now at the beginning of verse 25, it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. That simply means that who's our teacher? Who's our teacher? Jesus. So we are told that can we become greater than Jesus? I don't think so. But in a worldly sense, there are times when maybe a teacher in the school is teaching but the student goes far beyond what the teacher has achieved. Those things happen in the world. But in this case, we know that we cannot be greater than Jesus. However, verse the first part there says it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, meaning at least. Okay, if not more, at least can we be just like Jesus when it comes to prayer, when it comes to our communion with the Father, when it comes to our integrity, when it comes to humility, when it comes to... There are so many things that we can talk about in the life of Jesus. But what Jesus is saying, okay, becoming greater than the teacher, that would be nice. But even if one doesn't become greater than the teacher, can we at least be like the teacher? Okay, so he's inviting us. Be like me. If this is how I have developed my relationship with the Father, you can do it. I want you to do it. Be just like me in prayer. That is the invitation. So it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. So that's an invitation where Jesus is saying, I want you to be like me. Okay, and yeah, really something for us to think about and to follow. So in every way, our desire should be that we must be like him. Now we said earlier that Jesus did not experience failure in prayer. Every prayer that he prayed from heaven, it was yes and amen, granted. Yes. Okay, approved. So Jesus, when he's saying, can you be like me? He also means that we can also be successful in our prayer life. We can also get a granted, approved, yes and amen stamp on our prayer requests. And we are not trying to pursue God only to get approvals. No, that's not the point. We made it very clear from the beginning. Prayer is all about relationship with God. But as a part of all this, we can understand that answers to prayer come a lot easier and success in prayer comes easier. Alright, let's move forward. Here, there's a section that says God guarantees to answer prayer. So Jesus did not experience failure in prayer that tells us that he was praying the right way. Okay, the system of prayer, when God orchestrates anything, it's perfect because we know that scriptures say that he's a giver of good gifts. Everything that he does is perfect. Even when God created the world, we look chapter after chapter in Genesis where God said it is good, it is good, it is good. So prayer is designed by God. It is good. It is meant to be successful. Now, if there are failures in prayer, the reason could be that somewhere we are missing our understanding, the right understanding about prayer or you know, there's something that is a miss when we don't get the answers to our prayers. Okay, so what we will do is we will talk about the reason why we don't always get what we ask for. So why do you think we don't always get answers to our prayers? What are the reasons? In other words, our prayers are not all effective or successful. There are some reasons. What are those reasons? What do you think? God has a plan. Meaning, you are saying that we are praying in a different time. We are asking for something. Okay, so God will give but at the right time is one of the answers. Okay, great. Why is it some prayers are not being answered? Our way of prayer. Yeah, that's true. Okay, our way of prayer. Someone here on the comments okay, Daniel says we are asking something which God doesn't like. Okay, so that is why there is no answer. Lucy says because of pride, unbelief, that's true because we know God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble. Yes, that's correct. And unbelief we've seen in the oh, we are going to see in the faith class that when there is unbelief even if God wants to do something he won't be able to, right? He gets limited by our unbelief. So yes, pride is a limitation. Unbelief is a limitation. There is our prayers don't reach God. Okay. All right. Our prayers don't reach God. So let's see this happens when there is a demonic interception in the book of Daniel there is a time and we'll go to all those things later but quickly I'll share with you there was a time when Daniel prayed but the prayer did not go to God because there were demons rulers of wickedness or whatever rank of demons who are stopping the prayer from going up. So that's the point that Plessy is making and Kofi says we don't ask with good motives. Okay, excellent. So these are all the, these are all good answers. Let's pause right here. We'll take a break for 10 minutes. We'll come back and we'll get into this discussion of why is it that sometimes we don't receive answers to our prayers. Okay. All right. 10 minutes break and see you after, see you at 10 o'clock Oh sorry, 11 o'clock. Thank you.