 Okay, welcome to the class everyone. Let's pray and begin. Would somebody in the classroom like to pray today? I know the Google Classroom students may not be able to hear but would somebody like to lead and pray? Yes, go ahead. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. So we had one of us here pray for God to help us with understanding through this class. So the Google Classroom students can say amen to that. All right, so let's start off. Anyone able to give me a recap of what you've learned so far? Just so I know you're listening. The wrong motives of prayer. Okay, that's right. We learned about that. What else did we learn about in the last two classes? Correct. Correct. So Jesus prayed so much in his life and since he has become such a great example for us, it only tells us that we have to follow in his footsteps and do our best. And yes, that's correct. The model of Jesus, we've seen that. Everything else that you've learned the last couple of classes. Okay, great. So Jesus was submissive to the Father despite being capable of doing everything by himself because he was a son of God. So that also we have seen any inputs from the Google Classroom students. Please do post it. I will read it out. First, I'm just hearing from our students here. Anything else that you picked up? Yes, please. Okay. Yes, very nice. So we can expect to receive answers for the prayers that we pray because prayer is God's design. God is the one who asked us to pray and God intends to provide answers to our prayer. That's correct. Yeah. Anything else that you have learned as you think back? God answers. Guarantee. Okay. God's guarantee to answer prayer. Correct. So that is why he said pray so that he can answer those prayers. Very good. Very good, Nikhil. Okay. Yes. Okay. So prayer is not just asking, but it is submission and relationship with God. Okay. Beautiful. Okay. That's good. That's really good to know that, you know, you're all receiving what is being shared here. Okay. Anything else before we move on to the next chapter? Failure on human side. Okay. So the reason why prayers fail, it's not God's fault, but the fault lies on the human's side is one of the answers. That's correct. And here in the chat, we have God answers because of who he is. Okay. That's something we have talked about. Inspiration from how Jesus used to pray, the discipline of praying and also because we are his children, personal prayer goes a long way in accomplishing God's purposes. Okay. Wonderful. So we have touched on some of these points and even learned all these concepts from God's Word. So in the last class, we primarily looked at Jesus as the model for prayer life. And we also said that Jesus never failed in his praying. Okay. So Jesus prayed and his prayers were always answered. His relationship with God was always strengthened through prayer. And therefore it encourages us to follow that same lifestyle. We also saw the scripture where it says that it is enough for a servant to be like his master. And so Jesus was like this, we can talk about becoming, going further ahead of Jesus in our example of prayer, but even if we become like Jesus, that's also enough. You understand what I'm saying? So the goal is Jesus. So we have to raise our standard in our prayer life to at least be like Jesus, how he prayed all the time. He prayed for different things. He, you know, asked the father in faith and there was always a response. So there are many things that we actually looked at. And we also saw how prayer cannot be used as means to control people. There are boundaries, isn't it? We talk about answered prayers, but there are boundaries. We can't, prayer is not about getting anything and everything that we want. So that's not the goal of prayer. And we also looked at the fact that we must pray according to the will of God. And sometimes we misunderstand. For example, you know, we talked about Paul's thorn in the flesh. And some people misunderstand that as, you know, some human beings who are a thorn in the flesh or sickness, which is a thorn in the flesh and God gives all these troubles into our lives. But we, we saw that in that passage, what is being spoken of is a demon who was oppressing Paul. And therefore, we cannot, you know, go ahead and ask God, okay, God, you know, give us trouble because sometimes you give us trouble. So we never really go and ask for sickness or, you know, things like that. Okay. So all of this is what we observed in our last discussion. So today we are going to go ahead and look at chapter four here. And chapter four deals with different kinds of prayers. So there are many different kinds of prayers we've understood about prayer in general, maybe a little bit more about the kind of prayer in which we ask God for answers. Maybe we focus a little bit more on that. But in scripture, there are different kinds of prayers. So today we will talk about all those kinds of prayers. In Ephesians chapter six and verse 18, look all, he says it this way, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Okay. So when we look at certain other translations, this was the NKJV version. What did it say? It said, praying always with all prayer and supplication. So that is what we understood that there are different kinds of prayer. So in other translations, it is use every kind of prayer and entity. This is the good speed translation. International standard version says, bring the spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. So every kind of prayer and request, every kind of prayer and entity with all prayer and supplication that just goes to tell us that there are different kinds of prayers under this one category called prayer. So what are all these kinds of prayers? They're applicable to all of us. Now God has designed prayer and he has designed all these kinds of prayers. So when should we use which prayer is very, very crucial? Okay. So we will begin to see this. For example, you know, again, just going back to that same subject of healing, he said that, you know, God does not put sickness on people and therefore we cannot accept it as a thorn in the flesh because throughout scripture, what do we see? God says, I am Jehovah Rafa, the God who heals you. So that's always his response. His response is never to, you know, do the opposite. So having known that, if I pray a prayer, let's say for healing. Okay. So I can pray a prayer which will fall under the category of asking and receiving. So I pray like God, you know, I want to be healed. Okay. Heal me or I command healing over my body in the name of Jesus. So this is a correct kind of prayer. Now, if I pray a prayer, there's another category of prayer. We look at all of them now. One is called prayer of consecration or surrender, which is simply to say God, whatever is your will, let that happen. What are we doing? We are surrendering to what God wants to do according to his will. So I cannot pray a prayer of consecration when it comes to healing because I have to pray a prayer of asking and receiving. Okay. Similarly, when it comes to, let's say decisions in my life, I've prayed to the Lord a lot and you know, I've come to a place of understanding where maybe what I'm asking is not necessarily in God's plan for my life. At the time, you know, I cannot pray like, you know, a prayer of asking and receiving because I'm not sure. I'm not sure of God's will. Okay. Maybe I'm asking something which is not according to his purpose. At that time, this prayer of consecration or surrender is the right prayer, whereas I got not my will, but yours be done. So we need to apply the right type of prayer in that particular situation. And for that, we have to understand what are all the different kinds of prayers that the Bible talks about. So let's look at that now. Okay. So we also look at another scripture. This is one Timothy two and verse one, one Timothy two and verse one. If somebody can read it out, that would be good. And maybe the online students, you can look at your Bibles to read the scripture. First Timothy two and verse one. Okay. Thank you. So do you see that that is affirming that there are different kinds of prayers. Paul could have just written to Timothy and said, which is great, but he used different words for praying there, such as supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving. So there are many different types of prayers. And that's what we've been saying. So let's begin to understand these. The first one would be the prayer of asking and receiving. Okay. So the prayer of asking and receiving, you could open up the scriptures which are given here and I will go over them one by one. Okay. So the first passage, which is given here for us is from Matthew chapter seven. And it's something that most of us are familiar with, where Jesus spoke to the people and said, you ask, you will receive, you seek, you will find, you knock, and the door will be open to you. So this is about having a determination to receive from God. So I have a determination that it could be a personal goal, personal goal, like I want to grow in the word of God, or, you know, I want to pursue a course which will help me glorify God, honor God. So, you know, you have personal goals, you have family goals, you have things to do with the church, you have things to do with the city, the nation and all that. But you are determined to see something take place. That's the whole point. So when you're determined to see something happen, what do you do? Jesus said, you ask, what do you want? Ask for it. Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find, knock, and the door will be open to you. So this kind of prayer is called as the prayer of asking and receiving, where you put your request before the Lord. So we could be asking for anything, actually. And in this particular passage, Matthew 7, Jesus says that, you know, God, you fathers being evil, if you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more God will give good gifts to all of you, because you are his children who ask. So God wants us to have a determination to ask, but at the same time, he is determined to answer. That's what this word says. How much more would God want to give good things to those who ask him? So what are these good things which we ask God for? As I said, even in the Lord's prayer, Jesus told us to pray. He said, let your kingdom come, let your will be done. He also taught us to ask for our daily bread. We all have needs. Daily bread could have matters with regard to our needs. What kind of needs do we have? We have financial needs, we have physical needs, we have emotional needs, we have relational needs. So whatever needs I have, I can ask for it. So God invites us to ask him. You need to know what you want and then the next step is you have to ask. So we'll talk a little bit more in detail about this kind of prayer in the next chapter, but I'm just introducing it to you. So this is the category of prayer, which is to ask and receive. There are many people in the Bible who prayed in this way. You had people who came up to Jesus and what did they say, heal my servant, heal my child or my child is oppressed, set my child free. They asked, and what did Jesus do? He said, yes, I'm willing. This is a great faith. So his response was all of these things, but these people, what did they do? They received also. They asked and they received. So the prayer of asking and receiving has to do with our determination to get something from God, whatever we need, and to recognize that God is also determined to give to us. So one of the aspects of, very key aspects of this prayer of asking and receiving is faith. So when I go with faith, things begin to happen. So this is the kind of prayer we call as asking and receiving. Even in Mark 1124, Jesus said, therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So ask and he's emphasizing the second important thing. I said, fit, we need fit. So he said, you ask and what else you believe? If you believe, you will receive. Even when Lazarus was dead, what did Jesus tell, you know, Martha Mary, if you believe, you will see the glory of God. So ask, second point, ask with faith. Then you will receive. Next, John 1623. Another key is here in this particular verse. It says, and in that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. So this is also third key. What is that? Ask in the name of Jesus, because the name of Jesus carries the authority when we pray. So that is why even now, when we pray, what do we generally do? We say, in Jesus' name. Why? It's like sealing the prayer with that authority and power, which comes with the name of Jesus. Because this is about asking and receiving. Where, first of all, we have to ask. Now, is there a question which you all have in your hearts as I'm talking about asking and receiving? I had a question and you know, I heard something like this. Okay, maybe I'll just tell you my question. How about, you know, God already knowing our needs. He is all knowing, isn't it? And why should I ask? He knows, he knows I need food. He knows I need clothes. He knows I need an education. He knows I need protection. Why should I ask? He'll do it for me. What do you think? Yes. So can I not have faith and not pray? Because he knows I believe. Why should I ask anyone here in the Google classroom? So whatever you learned in your earlier classes, see prayer is not just about getting from God, isn't it? Prayer is also relationship. So yes, God knows, but relationally, you know, we are our relationship with God is being built up as we pray. So no wonder God has designed prayer and he told us, you pray, I know what you need, but you ask. Okay, so God is not. Later on, we will see God expects us to pray. Okay. Though he knows what we need, what we want. Prayer is something he told us. He commanded us. You need to pray because there is some, there is a design for prayer and prayer accomplishes many things. Okay. And there is that whole spiritual dynamics, which we may not fully understand, but God says, pray, you ask, you ask, believing, you will receive. Ask in the name of Jesus, you will receive. So this is the category of the prayer of asking and receiving. Okay, we'll talk more about it a little later. But if you have any other questions, we can talk about it and then proceed to the other categories. Anything else about this category of prayer? The prayer of asking and receiving. Okay, yes. Thanks, Nina here on the chat. She says, we need to pray because it's about relationship. Correct. Okay. I think it's quite clear. So we can proceed. The next one is the prayer of supplication. Okay, supplication simply means asking God earnestly, asking for a favour. And I'm reminded of Hannah in the Bible. Okay. And she really, really desired to have a child. She desired, you know, for many reasons, she wanted a child and she was also going through, you know, opposition from her rival. So so much was happening in her life. But through her example, you see how she went to God and she really sought his favour. Very honestly, she asked God for favour that God, you know, I need a child, you have to answer my prayer. And she was very desperate before God in prayer. So supplication is that earnest prayer, which we bring to God. Yes, we can have prayers. Is this not a prayer of asking and receiving? It is. But this is a form of prayer where you are literally pleading for God's favour. You're pleading for God's mercy. Like Hannah, she asked God for a child, but how did she ask God? She was desperate. She said, like, God, you have to go to do this for me. You know, and I'm seeking you, I need this answer from you. That is supplication. Okay. So supplication is a very earnest kind of prayer, a plea for mercy from God in your particular situation. So even in scripture, you know, we read in Matthew chapter 20, this is given in our notes for us, two blind men who were sitting while Jesus was passing by and what happens, you know, they were rebuking them, but you see that they cried out to Jesus. They said, Lord, have mercy on us, thou son of David. So they were literally calling out desperately to God and did Jesus respond to them? He did. Okay. Even though the crowds felt that it was disturbing or not appropriate for these men to call out to God, God responded to a cry of, you know, like a cry for mercy. Jesus responded to them. Oh, son of David, have mercy on us. They looked to Jesus and both these blind men Jesus healed them. Okay. And we see even in the life of Jesus, there's a reference here from Hebrews chapter five, verses seven through nine. Do you all remember the time when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane? It was a very difficult time where, you know, he was praying, but he was distressed. He was very distressed. Why was he distressed? There can be, you know, we can explain it in different ways. He was going to go through a trial. He was going to be separated from the Father. All these things really crushed his spirit. So what did he do in his toughest times? Jesus, the scripture says, offered up prayers and supplications. So he was crying out to God. He was calling out to God. And, you know, we know that he even prayed, he came to the point of praying, God, if you can take this cup away from me, please do. Okay. But yet not my word, but yours be done because Jesus knew, he already knew the purpose of God. And even then he prayed a prayer like this, which he kind of knew it's not in God's will. The only reason he came to the earth was to die. Isn't it? So which is why he makes it a prayer of consecration and he says, not my will, but yours be done because it was not in God's plan and purpose for Jesus to not go to the cross. Okay. However, the point I'm making here is even Jesus cried out to the Father prayers and supplications. It also says with vehement cries and tears. So do you see how Jesus is praying? Hannah, I reminded you of those blind men who called out to Jesus, cried out to Jesus, and here is Jesus also crying out to the Father. We agree on examples of earnest prayers in the Bible. We do, right? When parents come and they plead with Jesus, please Jesus, you can do this. I know you can do this. Have mercy, have mercy. So how does this prayer of supplication apply to us? Maybe there are things in our lives which are challenging, right? Those prayers, we may not just say, okay, God, I'm asking you for this, make it happen. No, but we might be in a position where we are earnestly saying, God, I need a breakthrough. You've got to make this happen. You have to open the door for me. You have to give me favor. I need your mercy. I need a miracle. You know what I mean? So there are times when our prayers are in this category where we are supplicating to the Lord, where we are earnestly pleading for His mercy. If He doesn't respond, I don't have an option. So, God, I'm desperate. You have to respond to me. So that is what supplication is. When we cry out to God, we cry out to God. We may cry out to God for our own personal needs or it could be, let's say, a family member, right? We could be crying out for a family member. We could be crying out for our nation, our city, our organization. But there are prayers which are that desperate, you know, for us to pray for. So we can also supplicate when we pray, where we pray earnest prayers to the Lord. Let's move on. We come to the next category here, which is that of intercession. Intercession is a subject that we are going to look at in detail a little later on. But for now, the simplest meaning of intercession is going to God on behalf of somebody else. Okay, so when I intercede, usually when I pray for myself, I wouldn't say I'm interceding. Instead, I will use the word intercede when I am praying for, let's say I'm praying for the class and I'm saying, God, you know, give them good understanding while they're doing their studies, while they're in their Bible college, help them to, you know, help them to know what is your plan for their lives, give them open doors before they before they graduate from college, you know, lead them forward, help them to accomplish mighty things for your kingdom. So what am I doing? I'm interceding for the class. Okay, so I'm standing on behalf of the class and saying, God, I know this is available in your word, your promises are there for these matters. So in the name of Jesus, do it for them. So this do it for them is what intercession is all about. I could be praying for all of you. And similarly, I could be praying for anybody that God puts on my heart. So I can have, sometimes people say burden, burden is something of a concern in my heart for another person or a group of people. And what do I do? I intercede. That's why we say things like intercede for the nation. We have a burden, isn't it? What is the burden we have? Okay, our nation should do well, our nation should prosper, people should be well off, you know, they should have enough financially, people should walk in good moral values, standards, make right decisions, crime should come down, people should be respected, valued. So these are all the concerns we can carry for our nation. But as spiritual beings, as children of God, we also have this concern, okay, our nation should know Christ, our nation should turn from sin and corruption and no Christ. So these are the prayers which we would pray as prayers of intercession on behalf of the nation. So intercession in a very simple way is when you're praying for somebody else. It could be one person or it could be many people. Even in Ephesians 618, what did we see there? Does it talk about intercession? What do you think? Yes, how does it talk about intercession? Where does it talk about intercession? Okay, then, okay, there you go. So Ephesians 618, what does it say? For all the saints. So when we are praying for others, I just told you that is intercession. So Ephesians 618 talks about intercession. 1 Timothy 2-1, it already says, you know, intercession, supplications, intercessions. So we can pray for one another. There's another reference in our notes here which is from the book of Job. So Job chapter 9 and I will read verse 22 here which says, it is all one thing, therefore I say, okay, just a moment. Okay, Job chapter 9 verse 32. Yeah, so basically, you know, it's Job's request. I'll summarize it for us. Job's request to God, he's going through a very hard time. So he is just desiring that somebody would go to God on his behalf. Okay, so these passages talk about that where he says, is there no one who can go to God on behalf of me? So here's the other thing. I said intercession is about praying for others, but we have to also recognize that when people are going through a challenging time, sometimes they are looking for others to pray for them. Isn't it? So let's say, you know, I am going through a time where there's been a lot of disappointment in my life. If I have a friend who says, hey, don't worry, you know, I'm there. I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you. Sometimes I need that support. Somebody else is praying for me. They're, you know, walking with me through this journey of overcoming my disappointment. So while intercession is to pray for others, let's also recognize that there is a need in people's hearts. And we also have experience that need where we say, oh, if at all there was somebody who could pray for me at this time, because I'm really going through, you know, something in particular. So in the same way, Job cried out to God in his trials. And he said, I wish there was somebody who could go and who could talk to God for me. So there is a need for intercession because, you know, people are going through many different challenges. So we can be those people who are praying for others. Okay. So intercession is our next category of prayer here. So so far, how many categories have we covered? Three categories. Okay. So we said prayer of asking and receiving prayer of supplication. And the third one is, yeah, prayer of intercession. Let's move on to the prayer of thanksgiving. It sounds somewhat like a mismatch. Prayer of thanksgiving. How can thanksgiving be prayer? We already saw thanksgiving fitted into that category of Timothy, isn't it? First, Timothy 2-1 says, supplications, intercessions, thanksgiving be made for everybody. What does it mean? You see, we are encouraged. There are other passages as well, like Philippians 4-6 says, don't be, it's a very nice scripture. So I think I will read it out for us. Okay. So it says be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. So thanksgiving is supposed to be a part of our praying. We are very familiar with asking and receiving because, you know, we are so used to it. God, do this. God, give this. Be used to that. Supplication also, God, I'm desperate, make a way for me. We are used to that. With thanksgiving, Philippians 4-6 says, how does thanksgiving sound when you're asking, when you're supplicating before God? It sounds like, God, I know that you are a good God. I thank you because you hear my prayer. Didn't Jesus pray like that? He said, God, you know, thank you. You have already heard my prayer. So there is a thanksgiving within our praying. It can be very much a part of our prayer time. Okay. Thanksgiving. Include the thanksgiving into our prayers. So why do we thank God? We thank Him for who He is. We thank Him for what He has done. I might say, God, you know, I want to study this degree and I want to study that course, but I thank you that you have helped me do all these other things so far. I thank you that you've given me good health and strength and opportunity to, you know, pick up all the skills that I could so far. It's very much a part of my prayer. While I'm asking God for new things, I'm thanking Him for many things. I'm thanking Him for who He is. I'm thanking Him for what He has done. Right? There is also the aspect of, you know, thanking God. Now we might ask the question, wait, I'm asking God for a request. He has still not done it. Do we ever say thank you before we say, oh, can I have a glass of water? Before they give us water, do we say thank you? We wait, isn't it? Till they give us the water, then we say thank you. In the same way, how is it that I can give God thanks before He answers my prayer? What do you think? Correct. Correct. Because there is this element of faith. What did we learn just now from Mark 11, 24, whenever you ask believing, you will receive. So because we are praying by faith, we can thank God in advance, thanking God after receiving, that is understandable. We know that. But thanking God before receiving is out of our faith. We know God wants us to move in this and He will do it because we are praying in the will of God. So before I get what I have asked, I can say, God, thank you. You have already done it. Look at Jesus. When He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, He says, thank you, Father. You already, you hear, you heard my prayer. You hear my prayers. He is thanking God before even Lazarus is raised. And here is the example of Abraham in Romans 420. It says he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. So when is Abraham giving glory to God? Isaac is nowhere in the picture. 25 years, Abraham is waiting. In those 25 years, when his family could be accusing him, Sarah could be accusing him, all the neighbors are talking different things, relatives are asking, Hey, Abraham, you don't have children. In the period of waiting, what did Abraham do? Romans 420, giving glory to God. So he had received the promise from God and he knew my God is a promise keeper. And so while he was waiting, what is he doing? Prayer of thanksgiving. He's saying, God, thank you. You have given the promise. You will do it in my life. Is it easy? 25 years to give thanks to God? It's not easy. It's very difficult, but this is also prayer where we are saying, God, I know who you are. You will not fail me. I give you thanks. So we give thanks for who he is, for what he has done. We give him thanks after what he does for us. Remember the lepers? Jesus healed them all. How many came back to him to say thank you? Only one person came back. But we need to do that. When God does something in our lives, we say, God, thank you. You have helped me. You have answered my prayer and also in advance, we can thank the Lord and say, God, I am so confident that your word is true. I'm standing on the promises of God. Thank you. You will do it. You will do exceedingly, abundantly more. And I can never ask, think or imagine. So that's the way we can have thanksgiving in our prayer. So since we are running out of time in this session, we are going to pause right here. We'll come back and continue with the rest of the content. So if there are any questions or requests, even the online students, please post it on the chat. We can take it up in the next class. So we'll have a 10-minute break. Thank you.