Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and Dr. Robert Jeffress.

We're dedicated to bringing you bold biblical teaching that transforms your life and strengthens your walk with God.

And you can study God's word alongside Dr. Jeffress in person on the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

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Soar over snow capped mountain? I want you to experience these unforgettable moments with me on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, June 13th through 20th, 2026.

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There's something powerful about connecting with God and fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness. I truly believe this journey will refresh.

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You spiritually, physically and emotionally.

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Cabins are filling quickly, so reserve yours today. To book your spot on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

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

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Prayer was not optional. It was absolutely necessary for his spiritual survival. And if we are going to be a disciple, a follower of Christ, one of the marks of our life is going to be to develop a praying heart.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, it's all too easy to make excuses when it comes to our prayer life. Excuses like I really don't have time or God already knows what I'm going to say, or even it won't really change anything anyway.

But today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress gives us four compelling reasons why we really should pray.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 3

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Have you ever found yourself thinking people never change? Maybe you've watched a family member struggle with the same destructive patterns year after year. Or perhaps you've looked in the mirror and wondered if you'll ever break free from habits that are holding you back. It's easy to feel discouraged when change seems impossible.

But here's the truth: real change is possible. However, it rarely comes the way we expect it, and change of any kind requires a deep connection with our Creator and a lot of prayer. Pathway to Victory has produced an uplifting book on this topic. It's called *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. If you're prepared to make some life-transforming changes in your life, we'd love to send you a copy.

It'll help you cut past all the confusing distractions in your life and focus on the spiritual disciplines that truly ignite growth. This beautiful full-color padded hardcover book includes 80 stunning photographs of God's creation, and each chapter includes a Bible verse along with a prayer that will allow you to enjoy a brief moment of reflection and focus. It's a book that you'll want to display on your coffee table or anywhere you can pick it up for a dose of inspiration.

A copy of *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple* is yours when you give a much-needed gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. We'll say more about the book and other helpful resources just after the message, but right now, let's open God's Word together and consider another key that unlocks your heart to change. The title of today's message is *Developing a Praying Heart*.

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You know, Jesus said we ought to pray at all times and never to lose heart. Paul said to the Thessalonian Christians, pray without ceasing. But that's easier said than done, isn't it? We find it difficult to pray. The fact is, we don't pray as often as we should because prayer is hard work. Romans 15:30 Even the apostle Paul said, strive with me in prayer. That word strive. Agonizomai. It means agonize with me in prayer. Prayer is agonizing work. Sometimes it's because it's just hard to find time to pray. I imagine perhaps that's true about you as well. I imagine if we had a survey today and you were honest about your prayer life, you could probably identify with me in saying you feel guilty at times about your lack of prayer. You find it difficult to carve out five or 10 minutes a day to pray. In those times that you are able to spend five minutes praying, you have difficulty concentrating on what to pray. During those five minutes, your mind wanders and deep down you wonder sometimes, does your prayer make any difference at all? Again, you're not alone, Paul. Even Jesus himself struggled at times with prayer.

I think at the bottom of our lack of prayer is the question does prayer make a difference? I mean, if God is sovereign and has a will that governs everything that happens, how could my prayer change things? And yet all of my questions about the value of prayer melt away when I look at the example of Jesus Christ. To Jesus, prayer was not optional. It was absolutely necessary for his spiritual survival. And if we are going to be a disciple, a follower of Christ, one of the marks of our life is going to be to develop a praying heart. A heart that makes prayer our first response, not our last resort when we run into need and difficulty.

You know, we're in a series called the Seven Marks of a Disciple. And we've said that the essence of discipleship is a changed life that comes from a transformed heart. But remember, in biology, maybe you remember this, your heart has four different chambers in it. Remember that. And for your heart to function properly, all four of those chambers have to be doing their job correctly. In the same way, in our spiritual heart, if we're gonna have an overall healthy, transformed heart, there are six chambers in our spiritual heart that have to be functioning properly to produce that transformed heart and the changed life we all want. Today we're going to look at the second mark of a disciple, which is the first of those six chambers. I call it a praying heart. A praying heart.

You know, Jesus talked about the importance of prayer. He showed us the importance of prayer first of all by his own example. Remember, in Mark 1:35, we find this description of what happened one day in the Lord's life, and I take it it's something that happened every day because it was a habit with him. The Bible says, and in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus arose and went out and departed to a lonely place and was praying there. Jesus started off his day while it was still dark, going out by himself to pray. It must have been very, very early. But notice what happens the night before he got up early. In Mark 1:32, we find out what had happened the day before. In fact, we find that this day was the busiest recorded day in Jesus' entire ministry. In fact, the Bible says in Mark 1:32 that when the evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to him all who were ill and those who were demon possessed. Jesus was working, ministering until late at night.

Now, if Jesus were like many of us, he probably would have hit the snooze button the next morning when the alarm went off. He had a pretty good excuse. After all, he'd been doing ministry for the Lord until late at night. Surely the Lord would excuse a missed morning in prayer. But to Jesus, prayer wasn't optional. It was the secret of his spiritual life. And by the way, did you know Jesus' prayer life continues today even though he's in heaven? He's in heaven right now. You know what he's doing? He's praying. He's praying. We find this verse in Hebrews 7:25 about what Jesus is doing right now. It says that he always lives to make intercession for us. Right now, Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father, and he's praying. You know what he's praying for? He's praying for you. He's making intercession for you and for me. He's asking God to give us the power to say no to sin, to realize the purpose that he has for our life. Jesus prays. He taught us that by example. He also taught us that by exhortation, by his teaching.

Turn over to a familiar parable in Luke 18. Since we've looked at this before in our study of Luke, I'll just give you the Reader's Digest version of this parable. But remember, Luke 18:1 says that Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart. And then he told a story about why we ought to persist in praying. You remember the story. There is a widow who is being cheated by one of the religious groups. They were trying to take her house away from her, take advantage of her. And so she needed protection. She couldn't afford a lawyer. And so she went directly to the judge, who was described as a man who neither respected God nor regarded man. And she kept begging this judge to give her protection. He couldn't have cared less. But notice what happened. Verse 4. He said finally, even though I don't fear God or respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out. This judge said, I can't take this any longer. I don't care about God, and I sure don't care about her. But for my own benefit, I'm going to give in, so she'll leave me alone.

And then notice the application Jesus makes in verse six. And the Lord said to his disciples, hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now, shall not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night, and will he delay long over them? Don't make the wrong application. Jesus is not saying that God is like a judge who has to have his arm twisted to do what he really doesn't want to do for our benefit. What he's saying is, if an unrighteous judge who doesn't care about this woman can be moved by her persistent pleading, how much more will your heavenly Father who loves you do for you, who are his children? Jesus showed us the reason we ought to pray, both by his own life's example and by his teaching.

Well, you say, why should we pray? We parents know how to answer the why question. Because I told you so. That's why you need to do it. God could say, you're to pray because I told you so. But actually, scripture gives us four reasons that prayer ought to be a regular part of our life. First of all, the Bible teaches that prayer develops our intimacy with God. It develops our intimacy with God. Have you discovered intimacy cannot be mandated with another person, even with your own mate? Just because you go through a wedding ceremony, you have a marriage certificate, you make certain vows and exchange rings, that doesn't mean you are instantly intimate with one another. Intimacy takes work. You have to work to achieve it. You have to work to maintain it. The same thing is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes I talk to people and they'll say, you know, I just feel so distant from God. Sometimes I wonder if he really even exists. And I gently ask, well, when's the last time you talked to him? Oh, I don't have time to do that. Well, God didn't move; they moved away from him. And when you move away from God and you don't talk to him, there's going to be that barrier, that lack of intimacy.

A second reason for praying is prayer unleashes the power of God. Prayer unleashes the power of God. Can you imagine Jesus telling this parable from Luke chapter 18? Imagine Jesus gave a different ending to this story. Imagine the ending went like this: and the unrighteous judge responded to the woman. Although I have no intention of protecting this widow from her adversaries, her constant pleading with me has developed our relationship. Would that motivate you to pray? This woman keeps pleading for help, and the judge says, well, I'm not gonna do what you asked me to, but I sure feel a lot better about you. No, the reason she went to the judge was she wanted him to do something. And the same is true for us as well. Getting to know the judge was not the purpose of her pleading. She wanted to get the judge to act on her behalf. And the Bible teaches that many times that is a proper motivation for praying. We want God to do something. We want God to do something that he's not going to do unless we ask. Remember James 4:2. You have not. Why? Because you ask not. There is a connection between our asking and God answering.

One of the most vivid illustrations of that relationship between asking and answering is found in Revelation chapter eight. Turn over to Revelation chapter eight. You know, some people are so scared of the Book of Revelation, they never read it. It's the only book of the Bible that has a special blessing attached to those who read it and understand it. But when we come to Revelation 8, we're in the final seven years of Earth's history. We call it the Great Tribulation. And it's a time when God pours out three series of judgments: the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, and finally the vial judgments. But in Revelation chapter 8, it's right before the second series of judgments is poured out upon the earth, the trumpet judgments. And Revelation 8:1 says that before this second series of judgments, there was a pause, there was silence in heaven that lasted for 30 minutes. What was going on during those 30 minutes before God poured out his judgment on the earth? The believers who were on earth during the Tribulation at this time, these are people who became Christians during the tribulation. You and I have been raptured into heaven. But those who are on earth during the tribulation, who became believers, they have been crying out to God, God put an end to this injustice in the world right now, put an end to our suffering. And they are praying continually before God.

Now look what happens. Verse 4. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and he filled it with the fire of the altar and he threw it to the earth. In other words, for these 30 minutes, God is collecting all of these prayers. The angel collects the prayers, and then once all of the prayers of the saints have been collected, he casts them down to the earth and there followed, verse five says, peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. In other words, it was the prayers of God's people that resulted in the pouring out of God's judgment on the earth. One commentator says it this way, the message is clear. History belongs to the intercessors who pray the future into being. I love that line. People who pray the future into being. That's why we pray. Andrew Murray said it this way. Prayer is the power by which that comes to pass, which otherwise would not take place.

A third reason we pray is prayer protects us with the peace of God. Prayer protects us with the peace of God. If you ever have the opportunity, I know some of you have, to go to the ancient city of Philippi. Through the ruins of Philippi, they will always take you to the hole in the ground where Paul and Silas were in chains and imprisoned. They had been arrested for preaching the Gospel. And remember, in Acts chapter 16, it says around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns, and the rest of the prisoners were listening. I bet they were listening. They probably thought, these guys are out of their gourd. I mean, what are they doing? They've been hit one too many times by the Romans in the head. Who in the world could pray and offer praise to God while they were facing what could be their execution? And, of course, what happened? The earthquake came, and they were suddenly released from prison.

I want to tell you the way I always understood that passage, and unfortunately, I've preached it occasionally. I said, isn't that great? They were the recipients of God's supernatural peace. They had the peace that passes all understanding. And that peace gave them the ability to pray and to praise God. I didn't realize I'd gotten it backwards. I'd gotten it completely backwards. Their prayer and praise was not the result of their supernatural peace. It was the cause of their supernatural peace. You know where I get that? Turn over to Philippians 6:6-7. Because 10 years after that event in Philippi, Paul wrote a letter to the Philippian Christians. And you know where he wrote that letter from? It wasn't the comfort of a pastor's study. He was once again arrested in prison, facing what could have been the execution of his own life. He was waiting for the verdict to come down, whether he was going to live or die. Verse 6, he said, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Have you ever had a medical test before, perhaps a biopsy? And the doctor said, now, we'll give you the results in 48 hours or 72 hours. And maybe you wait over the weekend, and as you wait for those test results, a thousand what-ifs come to your mind. What if it turns out this way? What if it leads to this? What would I do? What would I do? What would I do? It's hard enough waiting 48 or 72 hours to know whether you're going to live or die. But think about Paul. He was there in prison waiting not just days, but weeks and months for the verdict to come down. And what was his attitude? He said, well, I'll write a letter to the Philippian Christians. You know what he said in that letter? Rejoice in the Lord. Again, I say rejoice. Nineteen times he talks about his joy, his rejoicing in the Lord. What allowed him to praise God like that? Well, he tells us right here, verse six, be anxious for nothing. Or as the Living Bible says, don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. I love the way that reads, be anxious for nothing, but in everything. With prayer and thanksgiving, with supplication, let your request be made known to God, verse 7. And then the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul was saying, just as I am chained to this Roman guard who is watching over me. When you pray and talk to God instead of worrying, when you pray, the peace of God will guard that word there. The Greek word refers to a Roman sentry that marches around something to protect it. When you pray, God's peace will march around your minds and guard your minds against worry and those what-ifs. You see it here. Prayer is not the result of our peace. Prayer is the cause of our peace in difficult circumstances.

Fourthly, why do we pray? Because prayer aligns our will with God's will. Prayer aligns our will with God's will. Prayer is the primary means by which God transforms our heart, specifically our will. You know, the greatest battle you and I face in our life is this: Is it gonna be God's will or my will that gets done on Earth? You see, prayer is not about getting my will done in heaven. It's about getting God's will done on earth and specifically in my life. And that's a battle. It's a battle to get to that place where we say, I'd rather go God's way than my way. Unless you think you're the only one who struggles with that, even Jesus, the perfect Son of God, struggled with that. When in Luke 22:42, he poured out his heart, said, Father, if thou art willing, allow this experience to pass from me. At that moment, Jesus' will, he didn't want to go to the cross, not just for the physical horror, but the spiritual horror of bearing the sins of the world and being alienated from his Father. That's why he said, Lord, if there is any other way, take this experience from me. But then, quickly after one comma, he adds, yet not my will, but your will be done.

When we pray, the more we pray, the shorter that lapse of time between our will and God's will. One mark of a disciple is developing this praying heart, a heart in which prayer is our first response, not the last resort when we face a difficult situation.

Speaker 3

We've only scratched the surface on this important subject of developing a praying heart, so please join us again tomorrow.

And then, as we mentioned at the beginning of the program, we're saying thank you for your generous gift today by providing an exclusive book that's produced and published by Pathway to Victory. It's called *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. This beautiful book contains brief devotional entries that can be read in under two minutes, and each chapter is paired with a gorgeous photo of God's creation, a scripture verse, and a brief prayer that you can follow. All these features have one goal in mind, and that is to uplift your heart as you walk with God. Plus, it's small enough to take with you on your travels this summer.

Thanks in advance for your contribution. Pathway to Victory would not exist without the voluntary support from friends like you. And right now, Pathway to Victory is postured to have more impact in our country and the world than ever before as we teach the Bible with boldness and conviction and as we push back the forces of evil in our world with the light of God's word.

Thanks so much, and here's something worth putting on your calendar: The Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska. That's sailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, one year from right now. What better backdrop for worship and refreshment than the masterpiece God created in Alaska? From the deck of the ship, you'll take in the majestic shoreline of God's masterpiece Creation. This cruise will be the highlight of 2026, so download the brochure and begin planning today by going to ptv.org.

Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

You're invited to request your copy of *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple* by Dr. Robert Jeffress when you make a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Give us a call toll-free at 866-999-2965 or visit us online at ptv.org. When you give a ministry gift of $100 or more, we'll also send the Encouragement Resource Set featuring the new devotional, six Clutter Free Prayer Cards, the *Clutter Free Christianity* book, and the Life Application Guide, along with the *7 Marks of a Disciple* message series on DVD, video, and MP3 format audio disc set.

One more time, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to write, here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins inviting you to join us again next time for the conclusion of today's message on *Developing a Praying Heart*. That's Wednesday 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. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.