 So welcome, welcome back everyone. We'll continue with the subject on the model life of Jesus as far as prayer is concerned. So, so far we've understood that he had a very strong prayer life. He had a very intimate relationship with the father. And as a result of that, his prayers never failed. So if you look at all the instances when Jesus ministered to the people, you would find that things happened immediately. Immediately, you know, they were made well, immediately the servant was healed. Did he call Lazarus two or three times? Only once. He said Lazarus, come forth and the dead man came out. So it's amazing to note that he was able to minister in such a way that it took a prayer and I'm not exaggerating one prayer in public for things to happen. There is one instance where Jesus ministered, you could say twice, it was a man who couldn't see. So once Jesus told him to do something, he ministered to his eye. He was able to see but it was blurry. So the second time Jesus ministers only in this situation, but every other time it is just once. So that is the outcome in ministry as far as his strong prayer life is concerned. Now why did we talk so much about the prayer life of Jesus? Because we want to emulate it. We want to follow it and we want to be like that. So we look at the example of the Lord Jesus and we try to go by it. Now Jesus also said this in his word in Matthew 10 verse 24 and 25, it is there in our notes. A disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? Okay, so the point that I want to make from the scripture is we may never become greater than Jesus because he is the son of God. But he wants us at least to be like him because what did he say? He said it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. So if we call Jesus our master, our Lord, my life in every way. Today we are talking about prayer, but it could be supernatural ministry. It could be preaching. It could be, you know, acts of service. It could be anything. It should be like Jesus. If I am a disciple of Jesus, my life should be like Jesus's life as far as every aspect is concerned. And that's what he desires. He says at least or it's like this. It is enough at least a disciple should be like his teacher. It's enough for us to be like Jesus, particularly when prayer is concerned to develop that pattern of prayer in our lives. And we will see that, you know, he, my God will answer those prayers because it was Jesus who said, till now you've not asked, but now that I go where you ask, ask in my name and the Father will do it for you. So Jesus was the one who gave us these promises and he told us to continue in prayer. So we must ask and we will see answer to prayer. So always understand this. God does not ask us to do something when he doesn't want to respond. So if God is telling us to pray, it must mean that he wants to answer it. He will not tell us to pray if he doesn't want to answer. God never does things like that if he calls us and he says desire spiritual gifts. Reason is he wants to give us the spiritual gifts. The same thing for answer to prayer. If God is saying you pray, why? He wants to give. He wants us to receive from the prayers which we pray. So prayer is designed to be successful. If I might call it that way. It is by nature. God is the one who initiated prayer and it has been designed to be successful. We are designed to walk in effective prayer and answers to prayer. So that is our aim and our goal right now. Maybe you know my prayer life doesn't look all that effective. But don't worry about it. We are making the journey. It is going to get better and it will get better as we understand what the word of God shares with us. Let's move on. So God has promised that he is going to answer us. We have a guarantee from God for answered prayer. I will go over a couple of passages which are referenced in our notes. So Matthew 7 verses 7 through 11 where Jesus said ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you. And the entire passage goes on like that where Jesus says I will. If you reach out to me, I will answer you. And in Matthew 21 verse 22 again he says and whatever things you ask in prayer believing you will receive. So whatever things you ask in prayer believing you will receive. We will talk more about this later because it says whatever. So we will discuss that soon. Coming to Mark 11 24. Therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray believe that you receive them and you will have them. So there is a very important principle when it comes to receiving answers to prayer and that is faith. When we pray without faith, we will not receive it because what did Jesus say? Whatever you ask believing you will receive whatever you ask believe and you will have it. So we have to have faith in our hearts when we come to the Lord in prayer. Now after looking at these verses and telling us that God's design for prayer is very positive. He wants us to have answers. My question to us is why is it that some prayers don't get answered? We have asked believing and we have not received. What is the reason for that? Why are some prayers not answered? Okay. So we have not prayed in accordance to God's word. That's correct. That's why we didn't get it. Any other reason why we did not receive answers? Sorry. I didn't hear you. Okay. Okay. So you just have to wait. One needs to wait because it may take time to see the promise fulfilled. Okay. Great. Yes. Pray with the wrong intention. Okay. That's correct also. Anything else that you personally are aware of because of this prayer didn't get answered? Unforgiveness. Yeah. Jesus said that. Right. When you come before the Lord, forgive those who have wronged. You go, set it right and then come back. So unforgiveness. That can be a hindrance. Faith. Yeah. Because Jesus said when you come, whatever you ask, believing. So if I ask without believing, it may not happen. So without faith, I can't receive answers. Anything else that you have personally experienced or are aware of hindrances to prayer? Yes. Yeah. Go ahead. Okay. Right. So God is doing something bigger than what we are asking. Okay. Correct. Okay. Correct. So there is some opposition to answer prayer from Satan, our enemy. Yeah. True. That also can hinder answers. We have some answers here. Perhaps what we are praying for isn't right for us because of sin. Our prayers don't get answered. Double-mindedness. Yeah. So true. Jesus said that. Right. If you're double-minded, then you'll not get. Don't even think that you will get anything. Okay. So double-mindedness can be a hindrance. So right. So all of these things will hinder our receiving of prayer. We will soon study about asking and receiving. Okay. So there is a prayer that we can pray to receive from God. How do we pray it more effectively? We will look at that. But right now we've understood God has designed prayer for effectiveness. Prayer is supposed to be 100% successful. If we do it the way God wants us. But there can be issues. There can be hindrances. Some of them you have listed out and some of them are here in our notes. So from the book of James chapter 4 verses 1 to 3, we understand that when we ask a miss or when we ask something outside the will of God, we ask something for our own personal desires and not in line with God's desires. Those prayers will not get answered. So that is one reason. Second is using the wrong kind of prayer. So we'll go to that later. There are many different kinds of prayers which we can pray. So sometimes we might have just prayed wrong prayer. Now you might wonder how does it matter? But somehow there are these laws in God's word. And they are applicable. I'll just give you one example. Sometimes when somebody is ill, I might pray over them and say, Lord, I claim healing in the name of Jesus. But maybe in that moment, I'm supposed to command healing. So if I say I command healing over you in the name of Jesus, that person is immediately healed. As opposed to me saying, Lord, I pray that you will heal. So there's a different way of praying that you have to choose depending on that situation. And that's only possible when we are walking close to the Holy Spirit. So we might pray the prayer in a different way. So that also can affect the result in that moment. You see how tuned Jesus was to the Father. He doesn't minister in the same way. Sometimes He stretches His hand. Sometimes He commands. Sometimes He says a word. Sometimes He says mix mud then. It's nothing is a formula. Today if I go to church and I say, Okay, mix mud then what are they look at me like? What is wrong with you? But if the Holy Spirit is telling me that and then I tell it to the people, it works. So we have to go by what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do in that moment and also apply the right type of prayer. And we will look at it later. Then giving up before the answer comes. So we're praying, praying, praying. And the answer is coming closer and closer and closer. It's almost near the door. And that's the time when we decide, I don't want to pray about this anymore. So just forget it. We give up and that also can cause us to feel like God didn't answer. But God was answering. We stop praying. So giving up before the answer comes. There can be hindrances in our own lives. As I talked about surrender, when there is sin, when there is unforgiveness, when there is bitterness in our hearts. So in fact, the scriptures tell husbands, like treat your wives with understanding. If you don't, then your prayers will not be answered. Like God, what is the relationship between answered prayer and having a right heart attitude? There is. So answers don't come sometimes because we are so different in the prayer time or the prayer closet. But our life and our attitude is completely different outside of that prayer time. So things like sin, any kind of sin or carrying pride in our hearts. God doesn't, he's not interested. Do you remember the time when the widow came with her offering and the tax collector, he also came with his offering. And he was so proud that hey, I have so much to give God. But the widow just had her two mites to give to God. But whom did God appreciate? He appreciated the smaller, you know, giver because of the heart attitude. So God sees the heart. He's not so much about the external. So when we come to him in prayer, whether we like it or not, beyond what our words are saying, we are seeing our heart. So it's important for us to have the right heart to not be in sin, to walk in forgiveness, to walk in love, to walk in faith, humility towards God. All of this obedience before the Lord then answers will come for our prayers. Then the next thing is like praying without faith. We call it using the hit and miss method in which it's something like, okay, I will ask God because God said you ask, suppose he doesn't answer. I have plan B. I have plan C. So we already have it. It's just like, let me try. Let me try and ask God if it works, great. If it doesn't work, I know what to do. That is a kind of prayer where actually faith is not there. So you are depending on it. You're depending on God's healing or some miracle to take place or God's direction in your life. God to open the doors. If he doesn't do it, then it's not going to happen. So in that manner, you're holding on in faith and asking God for that one thing to happen. So we will see later how faith is applicable and all of that. So praying in a sort of like a wishing way, if it happens great, if it doesn't happen also, it's okay. That's not a good attitude in prayer. Now, let's come to the boundaries in prayer. So we said there are some reasons why our prayers don't get answered. There are some boundaries. Okay, what do I mean by these boundaries? The boundary is I cannot use my prayer to manipulate people. Okay, what do you mean by that? For example, let's say I am working in an office setting and I have a boss. Now, if I want a promotion, I can ask God, give me a promotion. But instead of that, what I do is, I don't do my part of working hard and all, but I say, God, you work in his heart, you change his heart, you open his eyes, you open his ears. So I'm basically like control. Like control this person. Just put my name in his mind, Lord. Somehow, when he wants to give the promotion, let it be me. It sounds kind of okay. Is promotion from God? Yes. Does God want to lift people up? Yes. But the way I'm approaching it, that's not correct. Right? So we know that such prayers can be made where we are wanting God to go and manipulate another human being. Okay, God, do something in their mind. Let them give me that house. Do something in their heart. Let them give me the car. So it's basically control or a parent wanting to control the child. The child, you've told the child I want you to do engineering, but the child wants to do arts. So what does the parent do? God, make him, make him take this, make him take the course. It doesn't work like that because we all have free will and we choose what we want to choose. Even God does not control our free will. Now can I pray and ask God God influence, let there be a good influence around my child, let them have, give them good counsel. I can pray prayers like that. But I cannot pray prayers to control the choice of another human being. So if I pray prayers like that, it is manipulation. It is control. Okay, and God does not control people. God does not push people to do what he wants them to do. I mean think about it. Even salvation does God force anybody? Jesus paid such a huge price but there is a choice. If you believe for anyone who believes whoever believes so God gives us free will and an option. So when it comes to prayer, in any you know any setting we must not try to manipulate people whether in the family or you know outside workplace or any situation. So praying prayers to control the will of others will not work out. Then we cannot pray prayers to contradict or change God's word or his overall plan for the world. So changing God's word means I'm just giving you an example. If I'm a pastor and I don't like a certain believer and I feel oh that believer is so you know prideful. They never listen to what I'm saying. God don't give him the Holy Spirit. Do you think it will work? Why will it not work? Yeah, Holy Spirit is for everyone. It's part of the promise of God for every believer. So if I pray a prayer like that I'm praying against what God's word says. It will never work out and I might be rudely you know surprised when God pours out his Holy Spirit on that person and I might think what is this God. I told you not to pour out the Holy Spirit on him but God will be like no I have already spoken in my word that this is what will be given to my children so you can't stop me. Same way salvation. Anyone who believes we can look at a certain community of people and say oh they don't deserve to know Jesus. But is it possible for them to receive salvation? Yes because God so loved the world so we can't stop people from experiencing the word of God the will of God. So if we pray prayers which are not in line with the word then it won't happen. Blessing. Let's say a student has studied really well and it's time for them to graduate and you know go into another better course can I pray okay don't bless him. God don't bless him enough. You bless him enough. We don't want you to bless him anymore. These prayers will not work out because when you look at God's word we can understand the nature of God and what he wants for his people. So no point wasting our time on such prayers. So pray in accordance with the word of God. Next don't pray prayers against God's revealed purpose for the world for example Jesus Christ will return right second coming of Jesus. Now if I take 50 days of fasting and my prayer point is no Jesus should not come back. Will God listen to that prayer? No but I'm fasting I'm using all the keys from you know APC Bible college notes. God should answer no it will not happen because the word of God reveals that God has a certain plan for the world. It is going to happen. So man's prayers cannot change God's mind. As far as these things are concerned earlier before Jesus came if people were to say no don't send a redeemer. Don't send a saviour. It won't work out because what the scriptures say the found before the foundation of the world the Lamb of God was slain. So in God's mind he has already decided I'm going to send a redeemer. We can't change that. So there are such things in the word of God which cannot be changed through our prayers. So don't waste your time praying in those ways. So these are all boundaries. Yes prayer is effective prayer is designed to be 100% successful but stay in the boundary. If we try to go outside the boundary and do funny things God is not responsible. You know it's not part of his deal with us. So we have to understand all these matters. So any questions about answered prayers unanswered prayers prayers in the will of God or prayers which should not be prayed. Yes. Yes. Please go ahead consider and ask. So we know that it wasn't answered. Okay. Okay. I got your point. So the question is when Jesus prayed let this cup pass from me but not my will but your will be done was it preplanned by God that God preplanned Jesus to you know go in that path and fulfill that plan of redemption. Answer is it wasn't preplanned because Jesus had a will he always had a will if he wanted he could have gone against you know God's plan for his life. The reason I say this is because in the book of Hebrews it says that Jesus was tempted in every way yet without sin. So he made a choice. So that also you know is a very encouraging truth for us because it nothing was easy for Jesus. Just as we struggle with different things he also struggled but he always made a good choice he made the right choice. So he was tempted in every way yet without sin. Therefore it was Jesus's choice to go ahead and fulfill that does it answer question. Okay. Good. Good. That's nice. Yeah. Anything else about answered prayer Yes. Yes women how to do praying alone. Okay. So we'll study about it. There's a lot to share with you but in a in a short way you have to set time aside set space you know keep the space where you where you're going to spend time and yeah it's also good to have a pattern to pray something like okay I will first begin with reading the word and then I will pray prayers of Thanksgiving then I will pray prayers of you know petition or asking God then I will pray prayers of declaration. So like that when you have a pattern what happens is you can every time you can schedule it and go by it plus you can have spontaneous prayer spontaneous prayer is like anytime just going up the stairs here and you pray. So you can have schedule spontaneous both kinds of prayer. So that's the way you build your personal prayer life. Yeah. Okay. So yeah good questions any other questions thoughts okay there's a comment here. Shadrak Meshak Abednego said if we are thrown in the furnace he is able to save us but even if he doesn't we will not love other Gods. How and when do we exercise this type of faith okay. Thank you I think for us to exercise this kind of faith every time is a good time that we obey God no matter what the cost okay. So yeah that would be the answer to trust God no matter what. So does that answer your question or is there something more that you wanted to know okay sure so that answers but also another additional thought about this prayer so they prayed and said you know God if you rescue us good even if you don't rescue us we will worship the true God. It shows their determination but the flip side you look at God and his nature obviously he is a God who rescues he is not a God who will not rescue isn't it so one of the ways in which we can see this is back in that time they probably did not have the full revelation of the nature of God but what does the book of Hebrews say it says that Jesus Christ is the express image of God the Father so for us today I don't pray a prayer like God even if you don't I will follow you I generally will not pray a prayer like that because I understand the nature of God better now under the new covenant compared to somebody like Shadrak Meshak in Abednego just an added comment over there any other questions about unanswered prayer yes so the question is that we hear the still small voice of God but how did the people in the Old Testament hear God's voice okay so there are different ways in which God communicated with them and we know that they could have heard audible sound they could have seen God's communication for example like the thunder but that was God's communication to the people so there are many different things that we see so the voice of God is there but there are also other expressions through which God ministered to the people so is there anything specific that you are looking for see because there are different incidents for example Moses was hearing God like he was talking to God face to face but then you had the children of Israel for them like a thunder and a fire those were the expressions that God is speaking to them God is ministering to them then who else I think Abraham obviously God spoke to him but God also gave him imagery he gave him pictures like he could see the sky and through that God was trying to communicate something to him God told him look at the sand through that God was trying to communicate with him but later on as you see God established the tabernacle and priesthood there was something known as the Yurim and the Tumim which a priest would use these were stones and God's light used to shine on those stones okay so when the how exactly we don't know but when the light would shine on these stones it would be like the answer is yes or the answer is no so these were ways in which God spoke to them there was also times when people would cast lots so they will write down I want to do this, I want to do this like Jonah who is the one who is sinned against God you put all the names together shuffle it pick up God speaks Jonah so that's what I am saying there were many different ways audible voice and in so many other ways in which God spoke to them but today the difference is Holy Spirit dwells inside every believer so for us it is much easier the common way in which he speaks is through the inner witness of our spirit so Romans 8 tells us that through the witness of our spirit you know we are able to tell okay God is speaking to me God is saying this and that so that is the common way can God speak in other ways like when we are praying here you know sometimes we get an image from God we see a picture God is showing us okay you will be there one day you will be preaching like this you will be singing like this you will be serving like this so I can receive pictures I can receive sound so many different ways that a new covenant believer cheers from God but the simplest way is our spirit bears witness you know with the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that this is the voice of God so what you said still small voice of God communicating with us okay sure so anything thought or question so Nina adds here there are instances in the second part of Hebrews 11 which mentioned people of faith were not rescued like James was martyred and Peter was saved okay alright so then Nina you are asking why did that happen isn't it so they too would have prayed for rescue they too would have prayed to receive certain answers and it's a very good question so what we say is when it comes to answered prayer God wants to give us a 100% result prayer is designed for success but when we don't receive answers to our prayers the mistake is not from God's side okay there can be many reasons why the prayer was not answered for example our whole list remember we said we asked something which was not in God's will we did not pray in faith or we didn't have the right attitude there was some open door so there can be many reasons Nina for why the people in Hebrews 11 the second part did not receive answers to prayer there can be many reasons why they went through what they went through and there can be many reasons why in the book of Acts James was martyred but Peter was saved okay some Bible scholars say that the purpose that James had was fulfilled no I'm not sure actually I don't know what the exact answer is but the point is there can be many other reasons as well why some prayers don't get answered but the fault is not God's there must be something missing from our side okay but how do we deal with it now that we understood okay my prayer was not answered in this particular area I prayed for three people nobody got healed so what should I do now I will keep moving forward with God and trying to figure out what can I do better and I pray for the fourth person you got it just because I did not receive answers for my prayers of the past that should not stop me from continuing to believe what the word says because you know Titus 1 2 it says God doesn't lie so the word is not a lie but I did not experience it there can be many reasons for that so I hope that helps me now if you still have you know some lingering questions there feel free to post it yeah alright so we will you know pick up on these questions soon in our notes there is a very classic okay so Prabhu added here his will and plans matter thank you thank you Prabhu so there is an example that a lot of people use Paul's thorn in the flesh I'm surprised nobody asked me that question you know Paul prayed three times to God and said God remove this thorn but what was God's answer to Paul my grace is sufficient for you so this example is used for people to explain that sometimes God will not answer our prayer but he will say my grace is sufficient for you you go through whatever you're going through you go through how do we look at this passage so I'm gonna you know break it down a little bit and help us understand so second Corinthians 12 verses 6 through 10 okay I'll read from verse 7 it says unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations a thorn in the flesh was given to me a messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me and he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in needs in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then I am strong so it's a way that Paul accepts the situation he prayed to God and he said God please change this situation but God tells him no my grace is sufficient for you you can go through this situation I am not going to change it okay where is this applicable what is the context of what is being spoken that is a crucial thing for us to grasp or understand so in this situation scripture is self-explanatory if you look at verse 7 it says I should not be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations a thorn in the flesh was given to me a messenger of satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure so what is this thorn in the flesh is it a sickness okay maybe what do you think what is the thorn in the flesh did God give Paul a sickness and said keep the sickness my grace is sufficient for you that's okay let's think together don't worry about right and wrong was it a sickness okay so to that question someone says on the chat it's not sickness and some say maybe it's sickness okay but it's still bodily right like it affects you if there's pain alright we'll see so one answer could be maybe it's a sickness is it a person like you know sometimes we tell I don't know people might say to their siblings you're a thorn in my flesh or boss you're a thorn in my flesh God you've given me is it a person thorn in the flesh so you're all studying hermeneutics you should let you have to take the answer from scripture itself what does it say in that verse look with me given to me a messenger of satan messenger of satan is a demon got it so paul is talking about a demonic oppression which he is experiencing it's not a sickness it's not a person it's a demonic oppression because he himself is saying that given to me a messenger of satan that is the first thing so we cannot you know pray against people and call them thorn in the flesh neither can we accept you know sicknesses in our body and say it's okay because God is a healer he's revealed himself as a healer he can't contradict himself either he's a healer or he's not right so it's very clear it's not a sickness neither is it a person it's a demon here's the second point what caused paul to be qualified for a thorn in the flesh it says because of the abundance of my revelation so paul had abundance of revelation he wrote the epistles of the new testament and he's talking about a thorn in the flesh today you and I you know we cannot even compare with apostle paul so there's no question that you and I need a thorn in the flesh for you know God to help us keep our pride down so this will not be applicable to us thorn in the flesh okay so this was more in the context of apostle paul so for any believer to use this passage and say yeah God told me he won't answer my prayer because he he's loving the thorn in the flesh are you apostle paul have you written some epistles like tell us about it no we are not and very specifically because of the abundance of his revelation God had you know if you want to call it let this situation be okay so it's exclusive to apostle paul so we cannot take this out of context and make it an excuse for unanswered prayer and say see God didn't answer paul's prayer so he won't answer my prayer also I found an example in the word it's not applicable to you and me okay so just wanted to clarify this for us and we okay so there are some comments here on the chat for us okay so neena about answered unanswered prayers she says it's not so much about unanswered prayer but it can mean that there is a faith that endures and that God is better than what life can offer okay I see where you're coming from neena but you know God would never want us to ask if he doesn't want us to get it right so I'm not saying there is no enduring faith I completely get the idea because God put certain people in hebrus chapter 11 who never received their answers but he still thought it was important to put those people in the chapter so I know that God comments it but at the same time what I'm saying is I don't see any example in the word of God where God doesn't answer right so we don't receive answers and there can be many explanations for that so yeah so that's that's my limited point then you're saying persecutions is that a question or is that just a thought comment you can put it in the chat if I'm not able to answer now I will answer it on the stream page of Google classroom alright so I think we will pray and close now oh there's a question yeah go ahead correct so yeah so you see again you know when it comes to interpretation of scripture if one passage is unclear you have to interpret it in the light of all other clear passages the clear passages tell us that you know any form of infirmity is not for us to bear because Jesus is already born it for us so when he is saying something here you also see Paul write in other passages that I suffer for the sake of Christ you know and that that suffering is a valid suffering so what he is talking about is suffering that comes in the ministry okay which he takes as a pleasure he is not talking about sickness or the things that Jesus is already paid for but he says I suffer for the cause of Christ that suffering is to fulfill what God wants us to fulfill which is valid because God never took away persecutions if you see the book of acts I'm not saying that God gives persecution but when there is persecution you don't see anyone you know like of course they say God you know remove it but they go through it anyhow so that is what he is referring to sure yes okay last question go ahead okay Karen so you are saying when a demonic power comes in this case it came to teach Paul something so how do we know when the demonic power has come to teach us something so what I am saying is this demonic power coming to teach us something cannot even happen in your life in my life so when a demonic power comes we have to pray against it and cast it out this was only applicable in the case of Paul no no there is no reason why God should allow it in anybody's life Paul is a very different case sure great alright so we will wrap up this morning's class okay I will pray because when the students here pray when the students come here I will pray and close Heavenly Father we thank you for this time we thank you for helping us understand your word Father we continue to ask Lord that you will transform us by your word and strengthen us Lord to have a life of prayer Lord and see answered prayers in Jesus name we pray amen amen so thank you everybody God bless bye everyone just cancelling the call here thank you