“I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2for kings and for all those who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and honesty, 3for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior”(1Timothy 2vs1-3).
There are four spiritual activities represented by four different types of spiritual communication: supplication, prayer, intercession and thanksgiving.
Supplication is a written petition that a person presents, say, for example, to a judge in order to get a judgement from the court in his favor. In order to get this done effectively, he hires a lawyer who writes a petition to the judge, making a specific request of that court to act on behalf of his client in a certain way favorable to him.
It is interesting to know this is exactly how prayer functions. In other words, you are asking for something in particular based on certain premises that are found in the word of God. If you go and meet a lawyer and say, here is my situation; what the lawyer does, being knowledgeable about the law of the land, is to look at your case, weigh it against the laws of the land to determine its case-worthiness and goes ahead to ask the court for specific requests in that regard to get a judgement in your favour. In some cases, the lawyer might even make known to you more rights and privileges, guaranteed to you by law as far as your situation is concerned, that could accrue to you that which you are not even aware of. This sparks excitement inside you before you even go to court. You are so confident that the judge will rule in your favor.
The Bible says “this is the confidence that we have in Him…”, our confidence ought not to be in our talent, nor anointing nor anything external. Rather it should be in the provision that we can make our petition (supplication) to God with the help of an Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
This is the basis of the Christian confidence– the reason we can walk with audacity, speak with boldness, and people wonder who is backing you up that you speak this authoritatively. “This is the confidence that we have in Christ, that if we ask anything according to His will, that he hears us, and once we know He hears us, we have the petition that we have desired of Him (1John 5vs14-15).” The reason He will hear us is that we ask according to His will. This is how the prayer of supplication works.
‘Poju Oyemade