 The recording has started. We can begin. Would anyone like to lead in prayer today before we get into our subject? How can we understand your words, give you concentration power, and understand your knowledge? And how can we read stories of lies in your words? How can we apply in our daily lives? Especially, I ask you for your help, please help me. I ask you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you. Thank you so much, Savita. We were discussing on a very important subject. Last time I explained regarding intercession and Jesus Christ our intercessor. We saw how intercession is about praying for people, standing in the gap for other people. But the Lord Jesus did a work of intercession. Do you remember that? We were discussing about the work of intercession. How Jesus hung on the cross and what did he do on the cross? He carried, remember we talked about that, right? He carried our sins, he carried our sicknesses. So, when we look at that scripture from Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12 where it says, He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. The word bore there is nasa which means to lift up or to lift away the burden. Now, when we look at the word intercession in the Hebrew, it is the word paga or it is to meet. So, we said that what did Jesus do? Jesus met with God to mediate, isn't it? So, on behalf of man, Jesus went to the father and he interceded, okay? The other thing is, he carried the burdens. That's also another thing that we said. And then we said that because of what he has done on the cross, he has confronted the powers of darkness. So, what is intercession today? Same thing. What do we do? Whatever Jesus did on the cross, we are doing that in prayer. So, we go to the father on behalf of other people, people's needs. One thing. Second, we carry their burdens. Maybe somebody has some problem, some difficulty. So, we pray for them. That means that we are carrying their burdens. Just the way Jesus did the work of intercession, we are praying. And that is the intercession that we engage in. So, we are carrying somebody's burdens. And what else do we get out of that intercession? Victory. Satan has already defeated. But when we intercede for people, they will see victory in their lives, okay? So, it's very similar to what Jesus did. Just that we cannot perform that work of redemption. Jesus has already done it. And the Bible says, he's the only mediator between God and man for the forgiveness of our sins. So, nobody can do the work that Jesus has done. Okay? That kind of intercession we cannot do. He has already done it. Now, if we study the book of Hebrews, it says, one sacrifice forever. So, there is no need for anyone else to do what Jesus has done because what he has done is 100%. He has completed the work. What did he say when he was hanging on the cross? What did Jesus say about the work? It is finished, right? Teterless time. He said that because there was nothing else left to do to forgive the sin of mankind. So today, we don't need anybody to come and redeem us because that Jesus has already done. But in what he has done, there is a pattern. Okay, there is a pattern. That pattern is what we are applying in prayer. So, he went to the Father on behalf of mankind. We go to the Father on behalf of people. He carried our sin, sickness, burdens. We carry other people's burdens. He won the victory over Satan. Today, through our prayer, we are releasing victory into people's lives. So, that's the comparison when we talk about intercession. An intercession is something that is so key that God calls us to do. We saw last time that even though God already knows our prayers and the fact that Jesus is our High Priest now. He is a Returnal High Priest. He is interceding for us. But still we are supposed to pray. Remember, Jesus said, I am not going to do your praying. You have to do your praying. Which means you and I, we still have to pray. Just because Jesus is our intercessor, up in heaven, you can't let go of prayer and assume or imagine that Jesus is going to do all the praying and you don't have to do any of it. So, Jesus is our intercessor. That's true. He backs up our prayers. He backs up our confession. But we still have to pray. Because that's what Jesus told us to do. Remember, there are so many instructions. He says, when you pray, pray like this. When you pray, pray our Father in heaven. Which means we are supposed to pray. And we cannot just say that Jesus as our High Priest replaces our ministry of prayer. Now, let's read more about intercession. Last time I said that intercession is very important when we care for the people. And especially those who are caring as leaders. So, if there are leaders who are appointed over God's people, one primary responsibility is to pray or to intercede. To go to God on behalf of the people. We see in the life of Abraham. Remember, we saw that he was an intercessor. Sodom and Gomorrah, God wanted to destroy. But when God told Abraham, I'm going to destroy, what did Abraham do? What did he do? Intercession. He went and he spoke to God. He started discussing with God, going back and forth for the safety and protection of that place. But ultimately, whatever Abraham asked, that minimum also was not there in that city. So, God had to finally destroy. But think about this. God is so good that he's revealing his plan beforehand to man. He's already letting somebody know. And Abraham, what do we generally term Abraham as? Anyone? Father, okay? Yes, in his relationship with God, he's known as the friend of God. Abraham is the friend of God. And the Bible says that God reveals his secrets to those who fear him. So, when we walk closely with the Lord, there are times where God will show us certain things. And I told us last time what to do when God shows us prophetic revelation comes. What to do first thing to do? Prayer. So, when we receive information, revelation from God, God speaks to us. He expects us to pray. That's the most important thing. That is why he's revealing it to us. Now over and above, suppose there is something in that which we are supposed to communicate. That is separate. Okay? After we have done our praying, we can communicate to whoever is concerned. So, that's how we are supposed to take charge of the revelation that God gives us. So, in this manner, God speaks to his people and when we pray, he even hears our prayer. Just think about it. Imagine this. Who is Abraham? Abraham is a man. He's a human being. God is God, Almighty God. Abraham is talking to God and saying, God, please don't do this. And what does God do? Does he listen? He listens. So, that is amazing for us. That God is actually responding to the prayers of a man. Now Abraham is saying, God, please don't do this. Whatever 50 righteous people will you spare the land? And it's almost like a negotiation. Like, God is willing to listen. He says, okay. If there are, then that's okay. We won't destroy. Then, again, Abraham knows there are not so many. So, how about if there are so many righteous people, God listens. God listens. Right? God listens. So, that's another very important thing for us. When we pray for people, God is listening. Okay? God is listening. And it's not that we are changing God's mind or anything like that because it is already in God's nature to give mercy and grace. Okay? Mercy is something that, you know, we deserve a punishment. But mercy is, God says, okay, no punishment. That is mercy. Right? Grace is, we don't deserve the blessing, but He still gives it. That is grace. So, mercy and grace are in the nature of God. And that is why God is listening to Abraham. Because, not that, you know, Abraham is trying to change Almighty God's mind, Almighty God's decision. It's not like that. It's already in the nature of God that he is a God who shows mercy. And that is why God is actually listening to him. So, the things which God, you can say, permits. Right? We can intercede about those matters and God will listen. God will respond. So, Abraham interceded. There was a time when he interceded for King Abimelech. What did he intercede for? Anyone? Any idea? Abimelech? What did he ask God for Abimelech? Something was... For children, ma'am? Yeah, correct. Children. So, Abimelech sinned against God. And because of which, God had shut the wombs, it says, of, you know, the women and even the cattle. So, Abimelech repents of his evil thought of, you know, having Sarah. He doesn't realize that she is married to Abraham. And then when he repents, Abraham prays. Abraham prays for Abimelech. That is intercession. He intercedes and he asks God for healing. So, Abraham actually prays for healing. For the women and for the cattle and everything. And then, as Lucy said, God gave them the ability to procreate once again. So, this is what we see in the life of Abraham, a man who interceded for others, who prayed for others. Now, Moses. Moses is another classic example who prayed for the people. I've shared already how, you know, it was tough to lead these people because, you know, they were not listening. They were doing their own thing. Each time, you know, it was a battle for Moses to really guide these people and lead them. But whenever God was upset or angry with them, he pleads with God. He says, God, please forgive your people. Your people, you know, you need to forgive them and don't punish them and things like that. So, when he prays, God relents. God hears. And the wrath that God, you know, wants to put on these people and destroy them, that is taken away. And they receive God's mercy. Remember in Hosea 1213, when we learned about the word, Shamar, preserved through a prophet. Israel was preserved. Who is this prophet? Who is this prophet? Hosea 12 and verse 13. We already discussed it in a prophetic prayer class. By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a prophet, he was preserved. Who is this prophet? Which prophet brought Israelites out? Hosea? I was wondering whether you all need... Elijah? Elijah? Sister, it is Moses because God led the Israelites through his leadership, right? So, it's Moses. But the scriptures also call him a prophet because he heard from God. Okay, so Moses and he prayed and God heard him. The next section here is about people meeting intercessors and we talked about Job, right? In Job's difficulties, he was so desperate that he was hoping somebody will be praying for him. And even today, when God calls us, we can pray for others. See, the wonderful thing about prayer, we'll discuss later in the ministry of prayer, there is no distance in prayer. You got it? So, suppose, I want to go and I want to, you know, give something. Let's say there has been a disaster and people need food, people need clothes. We need to go there, okay? And then physically we present there to give them something, materially. But even before that can happen, we can still bless them. How can we do that? We can pray for them. And when we pray, the advantage is there's no distance in prayer. We can pray for people who are sitting right next to us. We can pray for people who are in the campus. We can pray for people on the road right now. Or even people who are in far away nations. It doesn't matter who we are praying for. It's always effective. So there is no distance as far as prayer is concerned. And so we can uphold people especially who may be in need or especially those who may be in some sort of crisis situation. Crisis or a difficult situation, right? We can pray for them and God will help them. Remember we said mercy, grace. So we can plead with God and say God release your power. Or we can pray against the work of Satan in their lives so that victory is seen. So this is the way in which we can pray. So can someone please read Isaiah 59 verse 16 and one more person Ezekiel 22 verse 30 if you can turn in your Bibles and read it aloud that may be good. Just a point to students here. I think the audio is low. We are saying audio is low. Online. Could you please check? Who's open? Isaiah? You can read it. He saw that there was no one. He was a pearl that there was no one to intervene. Okay, so he saw that there was no one to intercede. So when God looked for an intercessor God, what does it tell us about God? God looked for an intercessor. What does it tell us about God? So his own achieve salvation for him and his own righteousness That's all right. But what does it tell us about God? And it says he looked for an intercessor. His righteousness and the fact that God is open for someone to intercede and he is expecting someone to intercede. You got it? So it's not new when we intercede for someone. God will not be taken by surprise. He in fact wants it when we intercede for others. Now let's read Ezekiel 22 and verse 30. What does it say? Ezekiel 22 verse 30. Yes. And I saw for a man among them who saw who should build of the wall and stand in the bridge before me for the land I should not destroy it but I found it wrong. Okay. So God again in a situation where judgment is coming he says I looked for a man to stand in the gap. Same thing. Go to God on behalf of the people. That is what stand in the gap is. Now you tell me how many people is God looking for in this case? One person. Can you imagine just one person if they pray God is saying that he will not destroy the land. Okay. So that's really great that God is giving man this opportunity that we can pray for a whole region a nation we can pray for you know what nations even one person praying it makes a huge impact. We will learn about some of these people later when we go let me just check if there is the quote of one particular person okay. So this is a man called John Knox who was one of one of the greatest prayer warriors during the Reformation and he was famous for crying out to God and praying. He used to pray for Scotland and his prayer was I mean it was very sort of extreme where it's people know it because this is how he prayed he said give me Scotland Lord or I die okay. So he was so determined for his land that his land should know God. So he prayed like that he used to pray for his land okay and it is said that the Queen at that time Queen Mary of the Scots she made a statement she said I fear John Knox's prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe. Can you imagine one man his prayers because they would have seen the power of prayer through the life of how many people I can't hear you one person right. John Knox in this case so the point that I am trying to make is when we talk about intercession even if there is one person who is committed to prayer we can impact entire regions entire nation nations it's possible because God says I look for one man to stand in the gap so that I should not destroy. So God is giving us this wonderful opportunity if he puts a burden on our hearts to pray for people we should take it up don't worry about you know how can I do it don't worry about all that if God is calling you to pray go ahead and pray imagine if one person can pray and it can be so powerful the queen is saying I don't I'm not afraid of the assembled armies of Europe I'm afraid of the prayers of John Knox so when we all get together and pray one man's prayer is so powerful you imagine if you all pray together with one heart how powerful that can be so in from history we have seen there are many such stories you know we look into them one by one but intercession is powerful and God is calling us to intercede so yeah we've seen the fact that we can even one person can pray in Jeremiah 29 7 it says God wants us to pray God wanted people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem so God called people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem he gave that responsibility to the people pray for the city even today wherever we are whichever city we are in we are supposed to pray for that city pray for the peace pray for the prosperity blessing of that city it's our responsibility Isaiah 62 verses 6 and 7 God says you know I have set watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem they will okay maybe somebody can read it Isaiah 62 verses 6 and 7 yeah please read I have watchmen on your walls Jerusalem they will never be silent day or night you who call on the Lord give yourself no rest and give him no rest till he establish Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth okay so what does God say I've set watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem okay and there's no rest you don't take any rest you don't give God any rest how how is it that we can labor without any rest through prayer so the watchmen here is not your usual watchmen whom we tell to sit and guard the city we are the spiritual watchmen when we pray what happens we are the spiritual watchmen right so when we pray it's like spiritually we allow and we stop through our prayers that's what God is saying you are the watchmen for the city when you pray evil will not come in when you pray blessing will come in it's all this kind of authority is given to us as believers and that is why we have to pray we have to pray for our city we have to pray for our state we have to pray for our nation and you know God will work so God is always looking for intercessors everywhere to pray and so for us it's important to rise up as intercessors so when we pray we can extend God's mercy especially for those who are going away from God we have seen that leaders like Moses have prayed for those who were not listening and here we find one John chapter 5 verse 16 it says that it is possible to pray for those who commit sin it's possible for us to pray for those who commit sin so that God extends his mercy but it also says that you know sometimes there are sins that lead to death meaning those are the extreme cases when people are so unrepentant that even when God is convicting them they are still doing the same thing so at one point this is not normal what one John 5 6 talks about normal regular believers we may not come in this category but when we become so hard in our hearts that even though the word is saying Holy Spirit is saying the community of faith is speaking to us and saying we say no forget it I won't right so there is at one point the possibility of committing sin leading to death at that point the writer says even if you pray no use right don't even pray for such a person because they have gone beyond the limit beyond the limit but as I said it's a rare thing rare one of here very rarely people reach this extreme but in general in general when somebody is sinning we can pray for them we can pray so that God can extend his mercy God can forgive them and God can bring them back into his ways so it's a good thing for us to pray for those who are wandering away from God and bring them back James chapter 5 verse 19 and 20 I will read it it says if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins so there is this possibility of praying for those who are going away from God as well as speaking into their lives to bring them back when it comes to intercession we can get God's help and the best way in which we can get God's help is through his Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit of God we will study I think you already have subject and in the subject you may have seen the various features or the functions the work of the Holy Spirit one of the works of the Holy Spirit is intercession so his name itself see when we read about the Holy Spirit you will see that he is a comforter he is a counsellor he reveals things to us so you see the works that the Holy Spirit does one of the works which the Holy Spirit does is he is an intercessor he is an intercessor so Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10 I think maybe somebody from online can read Zechariah 12 and verse 10 and also Romans 8 verse 26 and 27 two different people can pick up the passages and read it aloud Romans 8, 26 and 27 likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God ok thank you thank you Sonia so couple of things we see here is that the Spirit himself helps us in our weaknesses ok and like he makes intercession for us so we will look into it soon what about Zechariah 12 and verse 10 Zechariah 12 verse 10 and I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of grace and please for mercy so that when they look on me on him whom they have pierced they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and we bitterly over him as one weeps over a first born ok thank you Sister Deepu I want to check with you what version was that NIV yes NIV ok that's good now in the NIV version it says the Spirit of grace and mercy isn't it yes ma'am ok Spirit of grace and mercy now in the NKJV version it's posted in the chat Siddil has posted thank you for that he says sorry yeah Spirit of grace and supplication remember we said supplication is an earnest request which we make to God so what is one of the names for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of supplication now when we intercede at one point we may feel weak in our own humanness to continue to intercede for someone and that's true because maybe we have exhausted our human capacity to pray for someone but we can get help Holy Spirit one of the names of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of supplication Spirit of grace and supplication so even before we intercede we can ask the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit help me so when we ask the Holy Spirit to help us we will be able to effectively pray for others are you all understanding yeah so yes we recognize that our maybe human capacity is not as much as we require but we can be empowered or helped by the Holy Spirit because he is the Spirit of supplication or in other words we can also say he is the Spirit of intercession so depend on the Holy Spirit in order to do intercession and the Romans 8 verses 26 and 27 where it says that the Spirit helps helps us in our weaknesses when we read that word help in the Greek it's a long word I don't even know how to pronounce I don't know Greek I don't think I can pronounce that word but the meaning of that word is given for us it says to take hold against together with to take hold against together with now if you break that up the understanding that we get is it's as if the Holy Spirit is coming to help us to take hold of us and protect us when there is something like an attack actually maybe I don't know if in the Holy Spirit class have you done that arm wrestle anyone so we can do that so I just need three volunteers quickly we don't have time so just come quickly okay who are the three volunteers okay come come but for the online audience I don't know if you can see me or see us okay don't worry about it maybe I'll explain to the online people what we are doing or how will you adjust okay good so we have to do an arm wrestle so one of you will be a child of God who wants to be child of God okay Cyril is a child of God and we need somebody to be Satan to fight with him or attack him so I leave it to you I'm not saying you only decide who wants to be just for the activity just for the activity Nelson is going to be Satan okay child of God and Satan no problem come come here the people here online cannot see fine so child of God Satan right so you go to arm wrestle okay so why don't you try maybe you'll have to do it here because they won't be able to see otherwise come here to this corner otherwise forget online people sorry everyone I'll explain to you so just do it yeah we'll have to do okay give Satan a little bit of opportunity so that in the activity he can try to attack you we'll stop this I think I have to for a second it's not a godly thing to do so okay fine so now that I talked to Nelson at least stand here Nelson and Cyril so the online people couldn't see but what happened was Nelson because of the attack of Satan he was losing right so he's actually not able to fight the devil well enough he's losing okay now we said the spirit helps us in our weaknesses and we explain that word help help us to take hold of against okay so now we will just imagine all imagination this is all just for a few moments we'll imagine Joseph is the Holy Spirit okay so Joseph please come yeah so what we will do is we will repeat the same thing but now Holy Spirit will help the child of God so you'll have the child of God fighting the devil but Holy Spirit also has to come and you have to give some support to the child of God and we'll see how well the devil or Satan can keep up with the power okay so are you ready go ahead don't break the table that's all you have to go behind him okay okay okay fine that was very easy so thank you so much guys we just saw online people I'm explaining to you so Joseph came and he helped Nelson so Cyril almost immediately you know he lost so it is like that when we work with the Holy Spirit sometimes as children of God we may feel like I'm losing I don't have the power but the Holy Spirit who is he he's the Kuzi helper right the helper he comes even when it comes to intercession when we receive the help of the Holy Spirit we may be weak but when the Holy Spirit comes to help us we can win over the devil so that's the way it works even in our lives so thank you so much thank you you're okay Cyril yeah he's fine sure so that was just for us to kind of get a picture when we say together take hold of together against so Holy Spirit is standing with us or you can have another picture have you seen when maybe a child goes to school and the child comes back home and tells the parent that all the big children are bullying me they are doing this to me they're doing that to me what happens the mom or the dad they get so angry they go with their child they literally protect their child and if there's a bully a big kid they're ready to fight with that kid right so it's something like that the Holy Spirit he takes hold of us he takes hold of us together with us against the enemy or the devil and that's what Paul is telling Paul is saying the Holy Spirit is your helper the Holy Spirit is our helper so when we fight the enemy we can take the help of the Holy Spirit not just for external enemies but also for internal sometimes the flesh the weaknesses of the flesh are our enemy and we think oh how can I overcome how can I become the person that God is calling me to become on my own it's difficult but when we take the help of the Holy Spirit even in our weaknesses fleshly weaknesses we can overcome okay was there a question I thought someone unmuted to say something okay not really that's fine let's go on so the Holy Spirit now because we are talking about intercession okay how does he help us in intercession anyone yes so one is he can strengthen our prayer he can enable us to pray you know pray more but also we have seen about ability to pray in the spirit right so when we pray in tongues that is another way to actually overcome the devil because we are praying with the power of the Holy Spirit so every time we are praying in the spirit you can imagine like what we were doing over here the Holy Spirit is coming is giving us the utterances to pray the right prayers to pray the perfect prayers and though Satan may be you know happy that he's attacking us and causing us trouble the Holy Spirit will defeat the devil okay so he takes hold of us as our helper and we can pray in the spirit so if we want the help of the Holy Spirit as an intercessor or the spirit of supplication pray a lot in the spirit see again we are going back to the power of praying in the Holy Spirit or praying in tongues so in this way we can overcome and yeah just a few more things about intercession and then we'll close it says that in order for us to be successful in intercession what do you think we need what are some qualities or some attitudes that is required on our part to be a good intercessor any qualities that make for a good intercessor good relationship or strong relationship with God anything else love and compassion because if we don't feel for others then it's hard to sort of you know relate to what they are going through we may be in our own worlds and we don't recognize the suffering or the pain that another person is going through but when we recognize that then we become a good intercessor because we can relate to their situation and so we will pray for them so moving in God's love and compassion for people is important we need to have a desire to see the change which means that let's say someone is sick we really want to see them well so then we will intercede till that happens or maybe somebody is so away from God but we desire to see them come back to God we will pray till they come back to God so that strong desire needs to be there to see that transformation next is identification you know the Bible says in Romans 12 15 rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep it simply means that we must have empathy or feel for the others now someone is very happy maybe they graduated or they got a promotion they got married it's a birthday they are so happy but on the other hand you look at some people who may have faced some you know some disaster in their lives a loss or loss of money loss of a loved one they are so grieved they are sad but when we as ministers of God we can feel for both if somebody is happy we bless them we rejoice together with what's happening in their lives but when somebody is sad we know how to actually uphold them in prayer that is very essential for us as believers and as ministers of God to be able to take charge in both situations now if you look at Jesus the Bible says he was he is our high priest isn't it in Hebrews 4 verses 15 14 and sorry 14 and 16 we see that Jesus Christ he was a high priest who can sympathize with us meaning he can feel for us why because he too was tempted in every way that we are tempted imagine if he was not tempted right we can just tell Jesus Jesus how do you know how do you know temptation because you never went through it but now we can't say that we have gone through every temptation that you and I go through but the Bible says he was tempted in all points yet without sin so being tempted is not a sin because satan does that to us sometimes we don't expect it but temptation suddenly comes you don't know what to do that is not sin but giving into temptation when you say okay fine let me do it that becomes a sin now Jesus was tempted in all points but what does the Bible say he's without sin and that is why because he faced the sufferings that we face that he is able to sympathize with us or he can understand us okay so we need to understand people that's the whole point we also need boldness to pray for others and we also need to be persistent or have a never give up attitude so with this I'm going to stop we'll come back we'll look at another subject regarding intercession okay so 10 minute break everyone let's meet at 11 am thank you