Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day. This Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

God understands our difficulty. He understands how difficult it is to pray. The Bible says God understands our frame. He knows we're nothing but dust. Sometimes God's a lot more understanding with us than we are with ourselves.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. As God's children, we are free to lay any concern or request at our Heavenly Father's feet.

Yet oftentimes we forget what a powerful resource prayer can be. Dr. Robert Jeffress explains how the Holy Spirit uses prayer to channel his power into our lives.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Speaker 2

Dr. JEFFRESS thanks David and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Just before we get started with today's message, I want to remind you about a popular reference tool from Pathway to Victory called the Jesus Map. This full-color, multi-folded pamphlet contains maps of Jerusalem and Israel from biblical times that show the path Jesus walked during his earthly ministry, along with 52 key events along the way.

We've already mailed out thousands of these maps to listeners across the nation, and a copy of the Jesus Map is my gift to you simply for contacting us today at ptv.org. Then be sure to take advantage of the resources related to our current series on the Holy Spirit Unleashed. I've written a bestselling book called I Want More that parallels this series and can teach you how to unlock the power of the Holy Spirit in your everyday life.

You can also request this entire teaching series on CD and DVD, with far more teaching than we've had time to share on this half-hour broadcast. We'll say more about these resources later, but right now let's continue our study called Experiencing the Power of the Holy Spirit. In previous studies, we started learning about the first channel through which the Holy Spirit's power is generated into our lives: God's Word.

Today, we'll move forward with the second channel: prayer. I've titled today's message the Power of Faith Kneeling.

Speaker 3

One writer calls it the prayer fade. You may not be familiar with that term, but I bet you have experienced the phenomenon at some point in your life. You listen to a sermon, you read a book, you attend a seminar that reminds you of the importance of prayer. You're reminded that all of the great men and women of faith in the Old and New Testaments prayed. You're reminded that Jesus, the Son of God, even though he was divine, felt the necessity to pray. That's why he got up in the early morning while it was still dark and went out to a lonely place and prayed. And you're told that if even Jesus, the Son of God, felt that prayer was a necessity, why shouldn't we make it a priority in our life?

And so, convicted of your need for prayer and your lack of prayerfulness in your own life, you make a pledge. You say, "God, whatever else I do, I'm going to spend at least a few minutes every day praying, no matter what it takes to do so." And that commitment you make to God lasts a few months, a few weeks, perhaps a few days. And then, disgusted by your own lack of discipline, disappointed with God's lack of answers to your prayers, you give up. Has that ever happened to you?

One writer describes the prayer fade in his own life this way. He says, "When I first became a Christian, the idea of speaking to the God of the universe excited me. I couldn't pray enough. I prayed in the morning before the day began, took time off at lunch to pray. We prayed at mealtimes as a family. I prayed at night before I went to bed. I was seeing answers to my prayers all the time. Prayer was changing me and others. But then I don't know what happened. I lost interest. And even though I'm still active in church, I just don't pray that much anymore." I imagine if we were honest, many of us would have the same testimony.

You see, the Bible teaches that even though we don't pray much, prayer is the key, one of the keys to experiencing God's power. If you have your Bibles this morning, I want you to turn to Romans, chapter 15. We're in a series on the Holy Spirit called "Unleashed: How to Experience the Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Everyday Life." And we've seen that every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But very few of us are experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.

You see, there are four channels, four conduits through which the Holy Spirit's power is generated into our life. We've spent the last two weeks looking at the first of those channels, and that is the word of God. We've seen how the Spirit of God uses the word of God to unleash the power of God to transform us into the image of God. And today and next week, we're going to look at the second channel through which God pours his power into our life. And that is through conversation with God, and that is through prayer.

You look through the Bible and you see that the fact is that prayer is, as John Piper says, "it is our splicing the wire of our lamp into the lightning bolt of heaven." I love that definition of prayer. Splicing our lamp wire into the lightning bolt of heaven. And indeed, as you look through the Old and New Testament, you see God's power being poured out on his people through prayer. It was through prayer that the power of God came down and burned up the offering on Mount Carmel when Elijah was battling against the prophets of Baal. It was through prayer that the Lord Jesus was able to transform five loaves and two fish into enough food for over 25,000 people. It was through prayer that the power of God fell on the disciples at Pentecost. It was through prayer that Peter was supernaturally released from prison during the first century.

I think you and I today could give testimony of how God's power has come through our life through prayer. How many of you could relate today something miraculous that has happened as a result of prayer in your life or in the life of somebody you know? I think about in the church I served in before I came here a few years ago, we were planning to build a new sanctuary, a new worship center. Our church there had not had one in about 100 years, just like our church here. But we had an obstacle that we were facing. And the obstacle was there was a street that the city owned that bisected our property. It separated our main plant from a parking lot across that street where we were going to build the new worship center. We desperately wanted to stay in that location, but the city was unwilling to allow us to have that street.

And so we were really trying to determine should we stay in our present location or move the church to another location. And it all hinged on getting that street, a street that the city leaders were reluctant to give us. In fact, they told us, "You're not going to get it. You can appeal all you want to, but you're not going to get that street." Well, one Wednesday morning, I was meeting with our pastor's prayer partners and we were talking about the issue. And I had this revolutionary novel thought, "Why don't we pray about this?" Isn't it terrible that a pastor wouldn't think to pray at first? I mean, don't we all treat prayer that way? It's kind of the last resort instead of the first thing we do.

So about 50 of us marched down from the fellowship hall to the old sanctuary and we knelt down and for about 30 minutes we asked God to intervene in that sanctuary situation. That was about 7:30 in the morning. At 4:30 in the afternoon, a city official called me and said, "We'd like to talk to you about giving you that street." Now is that just a coincidence? Within a month, all of the necessary work had been done. The city actually sold us, but for a nominal amount, that street and we were able to build that new sanctuary. Coincidence? I like what one pastor says, "It's amazing how many coincidences occur when we begin to pray." Have you ever discovered that? See, that's the power of God. And imagine every one of you here this morning could relate a similar miraculous answer to prayer.

So here's the question. Why don't we pray more? If we know from the word of God and our own experience with God that prayer is the key to experiencing God's power, why don't we pray more? Some people say, "Well, I just don't have time to pray." Think about that. Not time to pray. We make time to do other necessary things. We make time to eat, don't we? Most of you make time to eat. Looks like you do. No, I'm not. That's a, that's not a nice thing to say from the pulpit. We make. Well, we make time for those things that we really think are necessary.

Oswald Chamber has written, "Remember, no one has time to pray. We have to take time from other things that are valuable in order to understand how necessary prayer is." Now I realize when I talk about the importance of prayer, that induces about as much guilt on us as talking about reading the Bible, doesn't it? I mean, we all know we ought to pray more and yet we find it very difficult to pray. This morning as we begin, I want to share with you two truths about prayer that might be an encouragement to you.

Truth number one. I want you to write it down. Praying consistently is difficult. Praying consistently is difficult. Look at what Paul writes in Romans 15:30. "Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, I urge you to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." He said, "Roman Christians, I want you to strive with me in prayer." That word strive is the Greek word agonizomai. It doesn't take a Greek education to know what word we get from agonizomai. He's saying, "Agonize with me in prayer." The word agonizomai is a word that was originally used to refer to the struggle that occurs in an athletic contest, particularly a wrestling match. He said, "Just like wrestlers struggle with one another, I urge you to struggle with me in prayer."

That's a great word picture for the difficulty of praying. Prayer is a struggle. Let's be up front about that. Prayer is a struggle, first of all with our enemy. Remember Ephesians 6:12. We looked at it over and over and over again. The Apostle Paul said, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." You know one reason prayer is so hard? Because Satan doesn't want you to pray. He wants to block the power of God from coming into your life. And so he will do everything he can to distract you, to discourage you from praying. When you are praying, you're first of all in a struggle with Satan.

But secondly, prayer is also a struggle with God himself. Speaking of wrestling, in the Old Testament, Jacob wrestled with God, didn't he, in prayer. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ wrestled with God, the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. In fact, in Luke 22:44, the wrestling with God was so intense, the Bible says that Jesus' sweat poured from his face like great drops of blood. There was that wrestling match. We'll talk about in a minute. What was he wrestling with God about? It was about whether it was God's will or his will that was going to be done. Prayer's a struggle. It's a struggle over whether or not we're going to submit to the will of God in our lives.

But thirdly, prayer is not only a struggle with Satan and with God. It's a struggle within ourselves, let's be honest. It's a struggle to get up in the morning and have blanket victory in order to be able to pray for a few minutes, isn't it? It's a struggle to say no to that extra television program in the evening to make time to pray. It's a struggle to lay aside that new novel we bought and are so intrigued by in order to take time to pray. It's a struggle to be able to keep our minds focused when we do pray instead of running through our to-do list for tomorrow. Prayer is a struggle with Satan, with God, even with ourselves. That's why Paul said, "I urge you to struggle, agonize with me in prayer."

Here's the good news. Though God understands our difficulty, he understands how difficult it is to pray. The Bible says, "God understands our frame, and he knows we're nothing but dust."

Speaker 2

Sometimes.

Speaker 3

God's a lot more understanding with us than we are with ourselves. Brother Lawrence said it this way. He said, for many years I was bothered by the thought that I was a failure at prayer. Then one day I realized I would always be a failure at prayer. And I've gotten along much better at praying ever since. Let's get this settled in our heart. Nobody ever masters prayer. Nobody ever is going to find prayer easy. It was a struggle for Jesus himself. It's going to be a struggle for you as well. Praying consistently is difficult. But here's the balancing truth. Praying effectively is simple.

Turn over to Matthew, chapter six, the passage we read just a few moments ago. You know, I think one of the downsides of the plethora of books and seminars and sermons out there about prayer is we have needlessly complicated prayer. We have made prayer so difficult. We give the people an idea that unless you have a PhD in prayer, you're really not equipped to pray. It's like Richard Foster, I think, said, we give the people the idea that prayer is like mastering algebra, or we think it's like getting a degree in auto mechanics, that unless you know everything there is to know, you really cannot pray effectively. But that's not what Jesus said.

We get the idea that we have to have everything just right in order to pray powerfully and effectively. For example, some people think unless you have an hour or two to devote to prayer, like the saints of old, you know, unlike or like Martin Luther, who spent three hours every morning praying, we say, well, if we can't do that, we can't pray effectively. We think that somehow power in prayer is equated with the length of our prayers. But look at what Jesus said in Matthew 6, 7. He said, when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose they will be heard for their many words. The Gentiles made the mistake of thinking God was impressed with the length of our prayers. Don't confuse the length of prayers with the power of your prayers.

Let me illustrate that for you. How many of you this morning know who Edward Everett was? How many of you know who Edward Everett is? One person. Who else knows who he is? One person in a crowd this size knows too who Edward Everett is. You ought to know who he is. He spoke for two hours at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery. Two hours. And yet, except for two of you, nobody knows who he is. And I bet nobody here can recall any of his words during that two-hour speech at Gettysburg. But Edward Everett was followed by another speaker that day. His name was Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln spoke for two minutes, but every one of us here today can probably recall some of his words. Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the principle that all men are created equal. Don't confuse the length of your prayers with the strength of your prayers.

Now think about that battle in 1 Kings 18 on Mount Carmel. The battle for the gods. Remember, the prophets of Baal pleaded with their God. From actually from noon until the time of the evening sacrifices, they prayed for Baal to answer. Over and over and over again. Hours on end, they prayed. And yet Baal did not hear them because Baal was no true God. And then Elijah stands up and in a simple prayer, that is 64 words in the English language, Elijah prayed a prayer. And in those 64 words, the fire of God fell from heaven. God is not impressed with the length of your prayers. Don't confuse the length of the prayer with the strength of the prayer.

You know, other people assume, well, in order to pray effectively, I've got to empty myself of anything I want and only pray for those things I think God wants me to pray for. I can't pray for selfish things if I'm going to pray effectively. Have you ever heard that before? Think about the apostle Peter. Remember the story? He and the other apostles were out in a boat one night and they look out and they see Jesus walking on the water. And Peter enthusiastically jumps out of the boat. He begins to bob up and down on the water, walking toward the Lord. He takes his eyes off the Lord, looks down at his circumstances, and he begins to sink. And what did he pray? O Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, how we thank you today. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Did he do that? He prayed a simple prayer, Lord save me. He didn't pray for the missionaries in Ecuador. He said, Lord save me. There could not be a more selfish prayer than that. And yet the Lord reached out his hand and he lifted Peter up.

Get rid of this idea that you can't pray for the things you want to pray for, the things that you need in your life in order to pray effectively. You know, some people think, well, I can't pray. I'm not in a position to pray until I have enough faith, until I believe 100% that God is going to do this, I really shouldn't bother with praying to God. Turn over to Acts chapter 12 and let's dispel that myth as well. Remember the situation here in Acts 12. The apostle Peter, the leader of the church at Jerusalem, was in prison. He was in jail for preaching the Gospel. And so these Christians, they gather together in a home to pray, just as they should pray for their pastor.

And then in the earlier part of Acts 12, we find that an angel appeared to Peter and miraculously released him from prison. So the first place he wanted to go was to that house where his members were praying for his release. He wanted to say, look what's happened. Your prayers have been answered. But if you don't think God has a sense of humor, I mean, just read Acts 12. This is hilarious. Here, Peter leaves jail. He goes to the house where the people have gathered together to pray. He knocks at the door. Notice what happened? Verse 13. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy, she did not open the gate. Can you imagine the frustration? Peter saying, they're knocking. He says, it's me. And she's so excited, she forgets to open the door, leaving him standing there.

And so she runs in, and here are these Christians together. Oh, Lord, please release our pastor. Please release our pastor. And she interrupts the prayer meeting. She announces that Peter is standing in front of the gate. And what did they say to her? You're out of your mind. God doesn't do that. We didn't really expect him. And certainly you shouldn't expect him to answer this prayer. Literally. You're out of your mind. But she kept insisting that Peter was actually there. And they kept saying, it's an angel. It couldn't be Peter himself.

Now, here's what I want you to see. They prayed for the right thing, but deep down in their hearts, they weren't convinced that God could answer the prayer. But guess what? He answered it anyway. You see, God's answer to your prayers does not depend upon the amount of faith you have. What did Jesus say? He said, if you have the faith of a, what, mustard seed, a teeny tiny amount of faith, you can still move mountains. Get rid of this idea that somehow you have to have everything just right to pray. Get rid of this idea that you can't pray if you don't have an hour to pray, or you can't pray if there's something you really want, or you can't pray if you don't have enough faith in your heart.

Remember Philippians 4:6 Paul said, In everything through prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God. In everything, pray about anything and everything that is in your heart. I love what one writer says. He says when we pray, we ought to pray for what is in our hearts, not what we wish were in our hearts.

Speaker 2

While praying effectively is simple, praying consistently can be very difficult, and we'll answer two questions that can help every Christian become more diligent with prayer. I hope you'll continue joining us every weekday as we continue this important study on the Holy Spirit.

At some point in their spiritual journey, every Christian longs for more. More joy, more peace, more sense of God's presence in their life. But what most Christians don't realize is that what they're really longing for is to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. I've written a book that deals directly with this topic. My book is titled *I Want More*. If you want to learn how to unleash the power of God's Spirit in your life, then this book is for you.

My book will help you identify four spirit quenchers in your life, and it will also help you put a plan into action to overcome your spiritual battles. A copy of my book *I Want More* can be yours today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Many Christians are growing weary, but I can assure you the Holy Spirit wants to bring light and life to your walk with God.

Please go ahead and request your copy of my book *I Want More*. Let me share with you how to take your next steps. Thank you for your generosity, and please keep up the good work. Your gifts are valued, and your gift today will truly make a difference.

Don't forget you can watch Pathway to Victory on television on hundreds of stations this coming Sunday, including TBN, the Trinity Broadcasting Network at 9 AM Central, 10 AM Eastern. Or you can catch us Sunday afternoon at 5 PM Central, 6 PM Eastern on Daystar.

David, thanks, Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 1

Today, when you invest in the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you the book titled *I Want More*. Call 866-999-2965 or visit our website ptv.org now. When your investment is $75 or more, we'll also send you the complete unedited CD and DVD teaching set for *Unlimited*. That's a series from Dr. Jeffress about experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit. To request both resources, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You can write to us if you'd like. Here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend, and join us Monday when Dr. Jeffress concludes his message on prayer called *The Power of Faith Kneeling*. That's right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

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