Pathway to Victory

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

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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.

Some things we don't know, but there are some things we know absolutely are God's will. When we pray that God would help us remove impurity from our life, we know that we're praying according to the will of God.

When we pray for power in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an unsaved person, we can know we're praying according to the will of God. There's nothing more powerful than praying in the will of God.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Throughout Scripture, we see incredible examples of God answering prayer in dramatic ways. So does God still respond to prayer in the same way?

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress examines the Old Testament story of Elijah that reveals the secret to unleashing God's power in your life.

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

Speaker 2

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we open our Bibles to James Chapter five, I would like to invite you to receive one of our most popular resources at Pathway to Victory. In these troubling times, Christians need to stay immersed in God's hope-filled promises more than ever. And that's why Pathway magazine exists: to fill your mind with biblical truth that counteracts the cultural darkness surrounding us. Each edition features my daily devotionals alongside practical articles rooted in scripture. Request your first three editions at no cost by going to ptv.org.

Well, today we conclude one of the most practical studies ever presented on Pathway to Victory. In his New Testament letter, James admits that life is difficult, but he doesn't stop there. While life is difficult, James tells us there's purpose in our pain. To complement this teaching series, I've written a companion book for you. By reading my book, you'll be motivated to stand firm in difficult times. I'll send my book to your home with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. It's called "How to Know if You're Really Saved."

Okay, I need to offer a little setup for today's final message in the series. Our study begins today, not in James, but in 1 Kings 17. In this passage, we learn about two characters. Ahab was a villainous king who worshiped idols rather than the one true God. In contrast, Elijah was a humble man who feared God. I titled today's message "The Secret to Unleashing God's Power."

Now, there are two characters in this story. First of all, Elijah. The second character was Ahab. Ahab had all the power, the might, and the money. But you know what Elijah had? He had passion. He had a purpose in life, and he believed in the power of prayer. So you've got Elijah and Ahab. In verse one, Elijah comes to Ahab and says, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." In other words, I'm cutting off the rain supply.

When Ahab saw Elijah, you know what his first response was? In chapter 18, verse one and verses 17 to 18, he said, "Is this you, you snake, you troublemaker of Israel?" But Elijah quickly puts the blame where it belongs. He said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's sons have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the Baals."

Then Elijah called for all of the prophets of Baal and Asherah—450 of Baal, 400 of Asherah—along with the people, to gather together on Mount Carmel. So Elijah proposed a contest. He said, "Let's let the prophets of Baal erect their own altar and place a sacrifice on it. And then I'll erect an altar and place a sacrifice on my altar. Then you call on the name of your God, Baal, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people said, "Hmm, that's a good idea."

Elijah allowed the prophets of Baal to go first out of courtesy to them. Really, this should be a simple thing for them to do because their God, Baal, was the God of the sun as well as of rain and fertility. This ought to be real simple. All they need to do is ask the God of the sun to take a little sunlight and focus it and concentrate it on the altar, and they could have a fire. So they pled with Baal, but there was no voice and nobody answered him. They leaped about the altar, which they made. This went on for about three hours, from nine till noon.

At noon, Elijah mocked them. Elijah didn't respect the worshipers of Baal or their religion. He mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a God. Maybe he's gone aside." That Hebrew word for "gone aside" literally means "gone to the bathroom." Or perhaps he's asleep and he needs to be awakened. Why don't you yell a little louder? So they cried with a loud voice, and they cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out of them. They started crying even louder.

Verse 29 says, "When noon was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered, and no one paid attention." Then it was Elijah's turn. He prepares the sacrifice on top of the altar. Before he calls on his God to light it with fire, he does something unusual. He calls for his servants to pour water on the altar. Why? He wants to make it extremely difficult for there to be any such thing as spontaneous combustion, that anybody could say, "Well, it was just accidental. The fire came." So he pours the water on it.

Then he says, "Let's do it a second time." So they go down and get more water, come up, and flood the altar with water. For a dramatic touch, he says, "Let's do it a third time." Then verse 36 says, "At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah came to the altar and said, 'O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things according to your word. Answer me, Lord. O answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God and you have turned their heart back again.'"

What was the result of that simple prayer? Look at verse 38. "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench." When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God."

Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." Why are we looking at this prayer today? Because James said it is the model of an effective prayer that accomplishes much. What made it effective? It certainly wasn't the length of the prayer. Unlike the prophets of Baal who prayed for hours, this was a simple 63-word prayer. It wasn't the frequency that made it effective, the frequency with which he prayed it. He didn't pray over and over and over again, engaging what Jesus called meaningless repetition like the worshipers of Baal did. He prayed it one time, and yet it only took one time for God to answer immediately and decisively.

What made this an effective prayer? Let me suggest three characteristics of this prayer that made it effective. First of all, it was a prayer that was based on the faithfulness of God. He began saying, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Why did he review the history of Israel? Was he trying to remind the Israelites of some of their heroes of the faith? No, what he was saying was, when he named them, he was saying, "God, in the same way that you were faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, be faithful to me."

You know, many of us have a poor understanding of the Old Testament, and we don't understand the chronology. We tend to think that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Elijah and Moses were all contemporaries who drank coffee together, you know, they were associates of one another. Did you realize the time between Abraham and Elijah was 1300 years? So how did Elijah know of God's faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? There's only one way for him to know it: through the Scripture, through the Old Testament Scripture, the writings of Moses. That's how he learned of God's past faithfulness.

You know, a lot of times, let's just be honest, we have a hard time reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament. I mean, it is so weird in parts. Strange people, strange names you can't pronounce, living in strange places you can't find on a map, engaging in some really strange customs. And we think, "How do I relate to this?" Living in the 21st century in Dallas, Texas, how do I connect with this? I just find no connection. The problem is we're looking for the wrong connection. Our connection is not to those people. Our connection is to the God of those people. Just as God was faithful to those people in their culture and their customs, God promises to be faithful to us in our time.

That's why there is value in reading both the Old and the New Testament. It's a record of the faithfulness of God. But listen to this: Elijah's belief in the faithfulness of God wasn't due only to some ancient manuscripts of Moses. It was from his own personal experience. See, he had just experienced three and a half years of the faithfulness of God, depending upon him for food, as he was by the brook Kerith, while he was living with the widow, with the supply of oil and flour. He had experienced firsthand the faithfulness of God. So he said, "God, just as you've been faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and just as you were faithful to me these last three and a half years, I need you to come through for me now. I need you to answer this prayer."

You know, David illustrates that same principle. Remember when he was facing Goliath? What he said to King Saul in 1 Samuel 17? David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." David could look back while he was a shepherd boy and see how God had protected him. David was basically saying to Goliath, "You may be a formidable adversary, but you're no match for God. God is bigger than you are. And the same way God has taken care of me in the past, he will take care of me now."

You know, we all need experiences like that, don't we? Where we can point to a time in our life when we can say with absolute certainty there is no explanation for what happened to me other than the divine intervention of God. I hope you have a record. I hope you're keeping some kind of journal that you can look to and remember the past faithfulness of God. That's what Elijah did. He based his prayer on the faithfulness of God.

Secondly, his prayer was based on the glory of God. Remember his name? Elijah meant "Yahweh is God." That's what he wanted to do, and that was to prove to the whole world that Yahweh was the only true God. You see that in the prayer? Look at verse 36. "Today, let it be known that you are God." Verse 37: "Answer me, God. Answer me that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, that you have turned their heart back again." Elijah's whole prayer was based on magnifying the glory, the holiness, if you will, of God.

Remember Isaiah 6, when the seraphim flew around the altar of God? Isaiah saw a vision of it, and the seraphim were yelling to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." Why did the angels repeat that? In the Hebrew language, if you wanted to emphasize something, unlike English, you didn't underline it. You didn't write it in bold. You didn't write it in all capitals. You repeated something for emphasis. It's interesting. Nowhere in the Bible is God ever described as love, love, love, or nowhere is he described as just, just, just. Now he's all those things. He's love, he's just, and he's merciful. But he is holy. And that is the most basic attribute of God.

The word holy, "Kadesh," is the Hebrew word that means to cut, to separate. When you say God is holy, you're saying God is separate. He is a cut above anything or anyone else in all of his creation. That was Elijah's purpose. His one purpose in life was to demonstrate that God is God. I remember years ago, a friend of mine called me to tell me about a very severe business reversal he had. He said, "You know, Robert, I was trying to figure out why God might be doing this. I have so many friends caught up in the acquisition of money. Maybe God is allowing me to go through this to demonstrate to my friends the emptiness, the temporary nature of financial gain. And maybe by the way I respond to this, I can prove to my friends that only God can satisfy our deepest needs." He understood his purpose in life.

A.W. Tozer has written, "The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God over all, we step out of the world's parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the world. But increasingly so, as we make progress in the holy way." Ladies and gentlemen, God is looking for people who will dedicate their lives to exalting his name, to pointing people to His holiness, His glory. One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is 2 Chronicles 16, verse 9: "For the eyes of the Lord go back and forth over the whole earth to find people whose hearts are perfect toward him, that he might show his great power in helping them." Elijah's prayer was based on the holiness of God, on the faithfulness of God.

Thirdly, it was a prayer that was based on the will of God. That's why it was so powerful. That's why it was answered, because it was based on God's will. Have you ever asked yourself, when you've read this story, where did Elijah get the idea for this contest? Very creative idea. Where did he come up with the idea? It wasn't because he had a couple of extra shots of espresso in his café latte that morning or was feeling especially macho. We find the answer in verse 36. He said, "Let it be known that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, and I have done all things according to your word." God's the one who gave Elijah this command to have a contest.

You say, "Where is that in Scripture?" It's not. Remember this about the Bible: Everything the Bible says is true, but the Bible doesn't tell us everything. It doesn't contain all of the works of Jesus. John said there are many more he could have described. It was limited. He doesn't tell us every conversation he had with Elijah. Apparently, God had told Elijah to do this, so he was simply obeying the will of God. And there is nothing more powerful than when we pray for the will of God.

The question is, how do we know the will of God? Sometimes we pray for things that may or may not be God's will. It may or may not be God's will that we be physically healed. It may or may not be God's will that we become materially prosperous. There are a lot of things we pray that we just need to be bold in asking, boldly asking God for what's in our heart, then quietly resting in his answer. Some things we don't know. But there are some things we know absolutely are God's will.

When we pray that God would help us remove impurity from our life, we know from 1 Thessalonians 4 that we're praying according to the will of God. When we pray for power in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with an unsaved person, we can know we're praying according to the will of God. When we pray for the healing of a relationship that's been broken with another Christian, we can know we're praying according to the will of God. There's nothing more powerful than praying in the will of God. James says this was an effective prayer because it was based on God's past faithfulness, it was based on God's glory, and it was based on God's will. The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.

Can I share a personal word with you for just a minute? I love this passage. I love this passage. It's my favorite story in the Old Testament. One reason I love this passage is I preached this sermon in this church 40 years ago, almost exactly to the date. It was my last Sunday here as youth minister. I'd been called to First Baptist Church of Eastland to begin my pastoral ministry. I hadn't even turned 30 yet, but I was getting ready to leave, and Dr. Criswell invited me to preach the evening sermon. He said, "You can speak on anything you want to speak, and then we'll have a reception for you and Amy afterwards." So I preached the story of Elijah that night.

You know, I believed in the power of prayer. I'd seen a few examples in my life, my young life, of God's dramatic power in answering prayer. But that was 40 years ago. Today, as I look back on what happened over those next 40 years and what continues to happen, I can say, based on much more evidence, personal experiences, that God really does answer prayer. He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond anything we could possibly dream of. And in those times, God says no, I can look back and see the times God said no. It was for my good and for his ultimate glory. The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.

Is there something in your life that you want God to do, you need God to do? To pray in faith means to boldly ask God to do what is really in your heart, not what you think ought to be in your heart. "God, with all of my heart, I'm asking you to do this. But I'm quietly resting in your wisdom." Would you take just a moment and tell God what is on your heart?

There's one prayer that is always according to the will of God. One prayer God always answers instantly, and that's the prayer of salvation. If today you're not yet a Christian and you would like to know for sure that your sins are forgiven and that God has written your name in the Lamb's book of life, I invite you to pray this prayer with me wherever you are.

"Dear God, thank you for loving me. I know I have failed you in so many ways, and I'm truly sorry for the sins in my life. But I believe what I've heard today, that you loved me so much you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment I deserve to take for my sins. And right now I'm trusting in what Jesus did for me, not in my good works, but in what Jesus did for me to save me from my sins. Thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you. In Jesus' name, Amen."

And with this prayer, we conclude our month-long study in the practical book of James. I titled this teaching series "How to Know if You're Really Saved." No question, we're living in times much like Elijah's day. Just as he faced King Ahab and hundreds of false prophets who mocked the true God, we're confronted by wicked objectors who attack our faith, our families, and our freedom. The media, academia, and cultural elites tell us our beliefs are outdated and irrelevant. But here's what they don't understand: We serve the same God who sent fire from heaven to prove He

Speaker 1

When you contact Pathway to Victory and give a generous gift, we'll send you "How to Know if You're Really Saved," the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress based on our study from James. Call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or give online at ptv.org. When your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the "How to Know if You're Really Saved" teaching session series on both DVD and MP3 format audio discs, along with the Personal and Group Study Guide.

This is the last day, though, that this offer will be available, so don't wait and get in touch right away. Again, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to write to us, here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next time when Dr. Jeffress begins our next series titled "How to Make Wise Decisions." That starts Monday 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. Experience the breathtaking America's Last Frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

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Board Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam ship with Amy and me for a journey that will refresh your soul and renew your spirit.

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Experience the unforgettable adventure June 13th through 20th, 2026. To book your cabin, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org.

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