 Okay, so welcome back. I'm glad everything is, you know, functioning fine. Let's pray and get started for this morning's class Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time Lord and Father we pray that you'll continue to teach us continue to strengthen us and equip us in your ways Father Lord we ask for the presence of your Holy Spirit to take over and Lord we we pray that each one of us will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit Lord we commit ourselves Into your hands in Jesus name. We pray amen So in the last class we were talking about the right foundation for prayer and We said that you know, we must have the right attitude Which is what is more important rather than the right words which we may use in prayer And you know, we we looked at several Key things that we must ensure in our Right foundation of prayer. I'll read it out for us quickly so that we can you know continue from there. So these right Truths in our prayer life is to understand the nature of God to Have intimacy with God to understand the redemptive heart of God The promises of God are to be able to partner with the Holy Spirit Recognize our position in Christ and a life of surrender. So these are the keys that we Were looking at and we do not complete All the keys we had finished key five where we said that we need to partner with the Holy Spirit And I remember sharing with us that the Holy Spirit will give us the strength We need to intercede and to pray or sometimes we depend on our own Capacity we depend on our own ability our willpower to stay in prayer and That is not sufficient, isn't it? But the Holy Spirit can aid us or help us in Continuing prayer so prayer can be different kinds of prayer And especially when it comes to intercession when we are praying for others when we are praying for the lost Or we are waiting upon the Lord for the fulfillment of certain promises, which have been spoken over our lives Our natural tendency would be to just give up However, we have the help of the Holy Spirit and we saw how he is the spirit of supplication and the spirit of grace We also saw that one can pray in the Holy Spirit Okay in the Holy Spirit is to pray in an unknown language Which is praying in tongues and this kind of a prayer is also when you look at Romans chapter 8 It says the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses So there are times that you know, we don't know how to pray We don't know how to pray in the will of God. We don't have the Words to express the things which are on our hearts But in these moments the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses Okay, so that's how the Holy Spirit and praying in the language that the Holy Spirit gives us You know helps us now We have an entire chapter to do with praying in the Holy Spirit You know, what does it mean how to pray all of that? So I won't go into, you know examples but we can pick up the examples when we go to that particular chapter and Moving on to the next point here point six is our position in Christ And I think I have stated a couple of examples when I was talking about Understanding the nature of God as the right foundation for prayer When we know that God is our father when we know that you know He has already made a covenant with us. A covenant is an unbreakable promise So his covenant of protection his covenant of healing his covenant of provision So we are recipients of that covenant. So you understood that God is a covenant keeping God So when we know that In a difficult situation instead of saying is it God's will will immediately say I have a covenant with God God will do this for me, you know So understanding the nature of God strengthens us in that way But also understanding our position in Christ is equally important So in Christ Jesus you have you are studying about your identity So in that, you know, you must have recognized by now that you are a child of God And you are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places So there is nothing no good thing that God will withhold from us. So when it comes to prayer If we have the wrong foundation it's like a Protest isn't it? So we think we can pray if we pray hard enough if we pray loud enough You know, if we pray long enough God has to relent in Hindi they say Bhu Khartal, right? So you do you fast you you just stand before the government office You make a noise with the hope that Someday one of these days the officials will listen to us and they will give us what we want But that is the wrong idea when it comes to prayer So just because I am good at prayer or I can pray so much God will answer It doesn't work like that God answers because of who he is God answers because of his word God answers because it is in his will God answers because we are his Children we are redeemed. We are now born again. We are in Christ Jesus and When we ask things which are in the blessing of the cross He already wants to give it to us So God is never surprised when I say God I want you to lead me Yeah, I want you to help me fulfill my purpose for my life No, God will not be upset with such prayers Because we understand our position in Christ Jesus and we recognize that As a child of God This is something God has already given to me. So I'm taking it But when I have the wrong understanding of my position in Christ Jesus That's where, you know, the begging comes in where we say, please God, please please, please, you know If we do that may be God will be like oh poor child. Let me have some mercy. Let me show some grace I'll give you what you want because you're so desperate Okay, so we don't have to do that when we know who we are So it's very important for us to develop. I said earlier the image The image of God when I say image, I don't mean a picture. I mean in my head Who do I think God is? God is gracious. God is merciful. God is almighty. Uh, you know, uh, God is good God is powerful. So I can use all of these Uh Maybe in my revelation, that's how I've understood God. God is a provider. God is a healer So if someone comes to me Who's unwell, I won't take a second to wonder. Is it God's will to heal immediately? I'll pray for them for their healing because I know that in God's nature Who's he? He's a healer. It's very simple. So when we know his nature and we know who we are Prayer comes very differently From our mouths. So that's why our position in Christ needs to be understood We don't have to beg God for what he's already promised. In fact, God is pleased You remember when the centurion came to Jesus and he said only say a word Was Jesus impressed? He was very impressed because The centurion was a Gentile and even though he was outside of the covenant He understood the meaning of covenant and authority And he told Jesus just say a word my servant will be healed So Jesus was very impressed by that prayer and he went ahead and healed the servant and the same is true for the um a syrophoenician lady who came to Jesus and who wanted Her child to be healed her child was being oppressed by demons And when she came what did Jesus tell her the the children's bread It cannot be given to the dogs Now just imagine if Jesus tells us that we go to him and we say okay Jesus I want you to do this and he tells us the children's bread cannot be given to the dogs We will be so offended if we I took the bus I took the flight I came all the way to ask Jesus for help and he is Telling me first of all that he can't do it second. He's calling me a dog What will you think it will be so upset? but she understood who he is and Strange because even she was not part of the covenant, but she had the revelation of what the covenant meant So she was you know, also not a jewess but She said lord even the dogs eat the crumbs She just knew some of these laws and you know spiritual laws and uh, all of that and what happened Jesus immediately Said oh, I haven't found this kind of faith anywhere Okay, now i'm going to heal your child even though she was outside the covenant She received it not because she said please please please god. Please i'm desperate Desperation is good, but knowing our position So she was not even in christ and she received how much more we who are in christ jesus So when we know our position Uh, yes, there will be times when we really want god to do something but we will pray from Our understanding of who we are and not you know like uh begging god As if we are trying to change his mind Okay, so does it make sense? Are you able to understand what i'm saying? So knowing our position is very important. Uh, similarly for our online students here I hope uh, you know, you're able to get the point Then if there are any questions, please feel free to um, drop it here in the chat from time to time I'll be looking at it. So I'll make sure I answer your questions. Okay coming back to the seventh p Um, as far as the right foundation is concerned in prayer is a life of surrender Now one can Go by all the laws and the principles Uh and expect god to respond and expect all of these to work out. Okay however We have to recognize that god also has an expectation towards us If we are not living a life of surrender Okay, if we are just living a life for our own sake and using the principles of god's word, you know for our own um Whatever our own benefits. We are being self-willed We want all the good from god's word, but we want to apply it for the kind of life that we want That's not going to work out for a powerful and intimate and an effective prayer life because what happens you start praying Outside the will of god eventually So surrender is very important. What is surrender anyone? What do you think surrender is? What is surrender? Dependence, okay depending on god. That's right depending on god any other understanding of the word surrender Okay, give everything commit everything to god. Okay, that's that's right. Yes any other understanding of surrender yes Okay, so let go of our desires and you know our Goals and all that that's right. Okay, so we have an answer here Giving ourselves fully that's right, so Surrender is all of what you all said is beginning with Dependence dependence on god So if i'm living my life for my own sake, there's no need to pray because I can do it and you know, it's as per what I want, but when I have Dependence on god, that's when I will invite him into every situation Even if it seems easy even if I feel like hey, I've done this so many times And I I can make it happen another time Yet and I'm depending on god. I'll say you know god. I surrender I need you to work in my life So when we see the example of the lord jesus He said in in the word that without the father I cannot do anything I can do nothing without the father in the same way in john chapter 15 Where we are invited to depend on god In verse five. He says without me you can do Nothing So we can do nothing No without god and which is why we have to Submit everything to god depend completely on god as far as Things in our life are concerned. So uh god expects that surrender without giving everything over to him No, we want him to come and do You know things for us. It won't work a classic example will be You know when god said in the case of like sol and david God said this that he looks for obedience and not sacrifice When sol was you know trying to offer sacrifices to the lord, that's not what god wants He wants our obedience. He wants us to completely give of ourselves to him and You know that is his expectation So when we surrender in such a way We also have the privilege of Conscience, you know, which supports us. Let's say that I've given you know my life to christ And then from then on I choose to live a life of surrender So when I'm walking in god's ways and I'm praying according to god's will Do you think I'll have confidence in prayer? Yes or no I'll have great confidence in prayer because I have given everything to god Otherwise, what happens, you know, they're I don't know if you have experienced it initially like when People are believers. They have one foot in the church and one foot in the world and at those in those moments Somewhere our our own conscience will be condemning us even though we're asking for the right things We're praying for the right things. We feel that sense of You know, like a tug in our spirit where We are aware. Hey, you shouldn't be doing those other things You have not completely surrendered your surrendered your life to god and you know, you want god to do all this So when our conscience is not at a place of rest When our conscience is condemning us In those times we cannot have confidence in our prayer So that is why A surrendered life a righteous life is very important Okay, otherwise I can go by the book meaning whatever the bible says, okay I will do what the bible says, but my own life There are things which I have not dealt with and those things my conscience will not leave me But it will keep reminding me. Hey This is not according to god's word. This is not according to god's word then It's it's a very dangerous place to live our lives where we are Living for god also and we are willing to do other things to please ourselves as well So that shouldn't be the case. We have to come to a place of complete surrender complete commitment And the bible says in one john chapter 3 versus 21 and 22. This is there in your notes and I will read it out Beloved if our heart does not condemn us We have confidence toward god and whatever we ask we receive from him Because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight Okay, so it's important for us to have a righteous life So having looked at all these keys Which form the foundation of the right Kind of a prayer life. I want to ask you. Is there anything else you feel we should add to this Right foundation for prayer Just have a look at that list and see if Any more can be added same for the online students if you want to Suggest any other keys All right So if there aren't any new ones I think it's good that we spend time on the ones which are given and try and build on that So we can move on to the next chapter here, which is about the lord jesus. So something about You know studying the life of jesus because When you study the life of jesus you recognize that he is our pattern our model Of every good thing So when we talk about kindness, we would say hey look at the life of jesus when you talk about compassion We'll say look at the life of jesus when you talk about love look at the life of jesus similarly when you talk about prayer He again becomes our model and our example uh and If there was one person who needed to be excused from a life of prayer It would be jesus because uh, he was the son of god. So he walked with the sonship glory. So, uh Signs wonders miracles all of that In that sense, uh was a testing his life already Okay, so what does it need to pray? When you're walking so powerfully, what is the need to pray? He could have avoided prayer. He could have just said something and it would have happened So why was jesus praying? One question to you. Why was jesus praying? Why do you think jesus was praying? Correct, correct. So he was being submissive to the father. Okay, so that is a good answer. Uh any other Inputs here Okay, so there's a question here on chat. It's already been answered. Thank you jashin for that And krisha to have A relationship with the father. Okay. So submission is one and have a sub have a relationship is another one So prayer we've seen earlier. It's not only about answer answers It's not only about, you know, god helping us take off a list So prayer is submission to god prayer is also building our relationship with god So these are the reasons why jesus engaged in prayer and we recognize that his prayer life was You know, it it took up a lot of space In his life, it took up a lot of his time. So he would set aside time to pray So let's observe. There are The scriptures listed in our notes here and each one suggests the kind of time That jesus set aside. So in mark 135 we see that In the morning having risen a long while before daylight Some of us have not even seen that part of the the day or the dawn But having risen a long while before daylight He went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed. So There is a discipline As far as his prayer is concerned, he would wake up early in the morning Go to a quiet place and spend time with the father. That is the example of jesus Okay, so that's how he spent time in the mornings. Now, let's see samu This is after ministry after ministry. What happens mark six was 45 to 46 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side To bet said up while he sent the multitude away and when he had sent them away He departed to the mountain to pray So it's very interesting Just now jesus has had a nice meeting a crusade if you want to call it After the crusade, what would we prefer to do? You know, if we have done the ministry We have led worship is so tired. You want to go to corner house and eat an ice cream maybe Right because you're like, okay. I can relax now But what did jesus do jesus sent everybody away and made Time for prayer Okay, so that really shows us the kind of Prayer life he had it delighted him It was something he was looking forward to you know, when you're exhausted You look forward to what you really like, you know, maybe Some time at home to rest maybe something you like to eat But look at jesus He was delighting in the presence of the father So he makes time he sends everybody away He departed to the mountain to pray very intentional So he had planned it up. You could say mornings. He's already spending time with the father again after Accomplishing his work He's making time to pray and spend time with the father. Let's continue You know, you have all all of this recorded in the different gospels. So luke luke records in uh chapter five was 15 and 16 However, the report went around concerning him all the more and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him Of their infirmities So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed so seems like Jesus had many places. He went to the mountain to pray. He went to the wilderness to pray. So he had Chalked out the you know quiet places around and luke records that even though Crowds of people were coming or we could say ministry is going on so well for jesus What is his priority? He goes to the wilderness and he prays Okay, so it's not just about Uh What we are seeing No happening in our lives Okay, by that I mean, you know, sometimes we we make the statement God works in spite Of our weaknesses, you know, we might see that ministry is happening well Things are going on well. Why should I pray? God is faithful And he gives us the ministry of his holy spirit. His word is powerful. So, you know All of that happens when we speak to people his word ministers to people but When we look at the life of jesus he Even though everything was going on well, he knew that it is important to spend time with the father So it's not so much about ministry alone. You understand what I'm saying But to build that relationship to build that strength in the presence of the father So he would spend time and sometimes you know, even when we don't Pray or when we are disobedient god is still faithful a lot of things can happen But our spiritual life is not Measured by What we do what we accomplish You know, even in terms of ministry and I think for us who are Wanting to serve the lord. It's a key for us to understand So don't go by everything is going well. I don't have to pray It don't go by that instead always Put an emphasis on your own Spiritual walk with the lord whether things are going well whether things are not going well I have to spend time with prayer in prayer Okay, because it's about my relationship with god. It's not so much about I want my ministry to go well So, you know, I'm spending one hour. I'm spending five hours For ministry, that's not the equation. Okay when we are walking with the lord Just as an outcome, you will see that god is working through whatever you do So it should come as an outcome. It should come as an overflow Rather than, you know, just focusing on those matters and as you look at the life of jesus, that's very clear Even when lots of people were coming he could have thought How about, you know, I do one more crusade because Multitudes have come or lots of people have come and I can do big things for god But still what does he do? He sets time aside He leaves all of them. He goes and he spends time with the father So it really shows us the importance that jesus placed on prayer Okay, and he Enjoyed prayer. He looked forward to prayer prayer was important to him and and we can evaluate in our own lives Whether prayer is like that for us or, you know, if prayer is very tiring and No stressful. Okay. So let's follow along here. We have the next verse Luke 6 and verse 12 It says now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to god So look at that each person like max gospel Luke's gospel they're recording different Instances of prayer morning. He prayed prayed on the mountain Went to the wilderness and prayed and now what is he doing? He's praying All night all night And we might wonder Jesus isn't it enough like you finished your morning prayer Why are you still praying in the night? so prayer in the life of Jesus was that important And if the son of god prayed so much What is our excuse? Okay, and if he made so much time Whose ministry I mean if everybody's ministry is important, but as you You know talk about the son of god. We would think oh, wow Jesus your ministry is something extraordinary He gave time for the ministry, but he also gave time for prayer, right? So it's not one or the other So these are all examples that you see in his life now john six And 15 the gospel of john. Let's see what he's saying he's saying therefore when jesus perceived that they were about To come and take him by force to make him king He departed again to the mountain By himself alone. So notice once again, you know, jesus was not interested you know in like fame and the worldly achievements People wanted to make him king But that was not of interest So this happens to us when we walk with the lord and we are surrendered to him the things of god become more interesting Than the things of the world So we see all of this in the life of jesus now. What was the result of this? What do you think was the result of such a prayerful life any observations? from your You know study of jesus's life What was the result in jesus's life so much prayer went in so Yeah, complete obedience to the father. That's right anything else Okay, so krisha here she says anointing So there was more anointing on his life Okay, there's no prayer that went unanswered. So, um 100 success right as far as his prayer life is concerned That's true. Yeah, uh, any anything else that you observe? Okay, um Prabhu says successful nina says the most effective ministry In jashin jesus was able to fulfill his purpose or not. Yes right, so All this was possible only because of The way jesus surrendered himself In prayer So just think with me Whenever jesus stepped out Multitudes followed him when multitudes follow. Do you think we'll be able to predict what? You know What requests they have? It's very hard because they might come to us with a request for healing They might come to us with a request for Deliverance they might come to us with a request for a miracle Anything is possible And when people came to jesus, do you ever see him praying long prayers? Or does he ever say, okay, I will give you appointment. Give me three days. I will fast and pray I will come back to you and then I will pray with you We never see things like that in the life of jesus. So in public what happens We only read he says be healed. He stretched out his hand cast out the demon, you know, uh, so He gave an instruction. Okay, you you pour fill the jars with water He never really seems to be at that moment Quickly go. Okay. Where is a quiet place? I need to go and pray. No because He's been in a relationship with the father so much That when the needs come his way Sometimes he doesn't even pray Sometimes you hear him say father you hear my prayers Or I he gave thanks to the father and he broke the bread But in moments Right. So in in public in like everyday life as it unfolds You generally don't see him Going away into long prayers But having prayed so much In personal prayer He comes out and does the work of god and it takes seconds It takes moments. It takes minutes as opposed to you know hours and days so something very Like interesting from jesus's life. So as believers We can also spend personal time in prayer now Would people know about it? Like the other day, you know, when we were having our supernatural hour, I remember, uh, um What was it? Someone was sharing and they said that uh, sometimes prayer seems boring. Okay. I don't use that word in a Careless way, but I mean to say that for our flesh It is a tough task to pray But just consider the life of jesus. He put in so much time in prayer That his regular time was very effective Okay, uh, and therefore Personal prayer life to build it up the way jesus had built up his personal prayer life is crucial For every believer now will people know? Will people applaud me and maybe you know, sometimes Some people who pray a lot don't even share it We would never know. Oh, how much prayer is brother, uh, john, you know, putting into his Uh, how much of time does he put into prayer? We don't know How much time is sister susie putting in prayer? We don't know right so when A ministry like prayer or you know personal time in prayer is not seen by people It's very difficult for our flesh because it's easier to stand here and preach What happens people might appreciate or you know stand here and sing people will appreciate but when it comes to prayer Nobody may notice it But when we study the life of jesus there The understanding we get is it has much value It's not so much to get the applause of man But to really walk powerfully In our life, we need to have a strong Personal prayer life and it's worth the struggle right when it comes to gaining that interest in prayer Setting time aside fighting for that time in prayer. It really you know makes complete sense So, uh, that's the manner in which you know, we we see jesus give importance to prayer Okay, um I'm looking at some of the comments here Okay, so krisha says I have restrictions at home It gets very difficult for me to pray for long hours as my parents aren't Uh christians what to do in such a situation? Okay, we will come to personal prayer time and how to Build a strong personal prayer time. But as of now what I would say is we'll have to carve out time krisha. So that Um, how to carve out time for yourself is your call because you're the best person who can Assess, you know all the tasks and the priority of those tasks And based on that you decide, you know, what is it that I can give up or what is it that I can reduce And how can I make more time for prayer? Okay, so in instances where, um Making time there's a lot of work and making time for prayer is difficult This is my personal, um Opinion I feel like maybe early hours in the morning are very helpful. Um, and for some people maybe Once everyone completes their daily task In the night it is possible to spend time in prayer and I'm reminded of the example of susanna wesley Okay, so some of you will know susanna wesley the mother of John wesley who is One of those main persons as far as the methodist movement is concerned So susanna wesley was a very busy mother So, you know, she had children and she had to take care of the children But she was also a very prayerful mother Okay, who had an impact on the lives of her sons She was so busy that you know how she would make time for prayer The wasn't even time to go Separately and sit there because she has to take care of the children She would just put a scarf on her head and that was her prayer closet So the kids will be playing. She'll just put uh, uh scarf on her head and go into prayer So that's the way she maintained her Prayer life and she maintained it really strong Being a busy mother, you know of uh children. So I think When we talk about busyness It's it's a reality But each one of us have to work out in our own personal lives How we are going to carve out that time for prayer So it's your call you decide what you can, um, you know, eliminate or reduce to make that time Okay, I hope that helps krisha any follow-up question to that Okay, sure. Thank you All right. So in this manner, uh, you know, jesus Prayed, uh, as we look at john 11 John 11 which is given in our notes here versus 41 to 42 It's The time when jesus Um crazed before the tomb of lazarus Okay, so as I told us when we encounter a very difficult scenario We feel oh, I should pray more but not so in the case of jesus. How did he? Um minister in this situation. No, he just said father. I thank you that you have heard me I thank you that you have heard me lazarus come forth Finished the dead man came back to life. So, uh, when we have a powerful prayer life Things happen in the natural Okay, and that is the example that jesus gave us I I like to Look at it as the iceberg Okay, uh, I know that we've not seen an iceberg mostly, you know this part of um the Yeah, where we live But you are aware of what an iceberg is. Okay, so an iceberg is that you see, um frozen ice on top of The the water surface and you think that that is how much the ice is but when you look underneath you have A really huge mass of ice, you know sitting there and so for ships and for Sailors they instruct them to be very careful as you're moving towards the iceberg. So when it comes to our prayer lives This is how it should be though. We pray somewhat in public Our personal prayer life should be like that mass underwater that nobody will Maybe you'll never talk about it. Nobody will ever come to know but we have to develop that kind of a prayer life That's when you know, you can walk in power the way jesus walked. He called Uh Dead man to come forth and he came forth. Okay, so here in our next section. We also See that jesus never Experienced failure in prayer. Why do you think? Why didn't jesus experience Any failure in prayer? Yes, how did he get there? Yes, he developed a strong relationship with god and that's how when He knew what god wanted. He prayed that and That's what he got every time. Okay, great. So he had a strong relationship with god He had the knowledge of his will. What else? How did he Have such a successful. Yeah Good. Yes. So he believed So his heart had come to a place of belief in god. That's right. That's great. Anything else that you see He prayed with authority. Yes, great. Yeah What else? He never had failure in prayer. Why didn't jesus have failure in prayer? because Okay, okay. So again, he prayed in the will of god He prayed in the will of god. He prayed in faith. So everything happened. Correct. Good. Yes. Anything, vimal? By faith. Okay, great. So most of the answers here are will of god faith So and that is the reason why uh, jesus never Experienced failure. Was there any time when jesus prayed outside the will of god? Yes God and om gets him. Yes. So it was a very difficult time in You know jesus's life Where he did not want to experience separation from the father and the pain Uh, but even that prayer that he says, okay, father, if it's possible take this cup away from me What does he say in the end? But not my will but yours be done So even when he feels That something else should happen. He still surrendered submitted to the will of the father and You know god did that god did his will and he had to go up to the cross So, uh, this is how the prayer life of jesus was very surrendered to the father and nina here says that He always did things that pleased the father and In john's gospel. He says, I know you always hear me. Okay, so he was that connected to the father and viku says Because he knew who god is Okay, wonderful. Thank you so much everyone for your answers We will take a short break now and we'll come back to continue with the rest of the portions So just want to request the online students to please stay on the call Just go on mute and uh, you can turn off your cameras. We'll see you in 10 minutes. Thank you