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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - God's Thundering Silence

September 24, 2025 | 29:0

Robert Jeffress - God's Thundering Silence
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#WordofGod #Wisdom #Deception #Choices #Noah'sArk #Family #Famine #Loss #Children #Fear

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - God's Thundering Silence | September 24, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
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  • Robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress and welcome
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  • Again to "pathway to victory."
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  • Is there anything more frustrating than calling up a
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  • Company only to be met with a maze of never ending
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  • Menu options?
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  • It's easy to lose patience waiting for a real person
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  • To answer.
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  • Today, i'm going to share how to respond when it feels like you
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  • Can't get through to god.
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  • We know that god can hear our prayers, so sometimes why
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  • Doesn't he respond?
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  • My message is titled, "god's thundering silence" on today's
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  • Edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: how do you know which path god wants you to take?
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  • In "how to make wise decisions," trusted author and bible teacher
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  • Dr. robert jeffress cuts through the confusion with time tested
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  • Biblical wisdom.
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  • Whether you're facing career changes, relationship questions,
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  • Or ministry decisions, this practical guide reveals how god
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  • Speaks to his children today.
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  • Don't let uncertainty paralyze you.
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  • Request your copy of "how to make wise decisions" when you
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  • Give a generous gift to support the ministry of "pathway
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  • To victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: have you ever wondered why it is that if there really
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  • Is a god in heaven who desires that the whole world know him,
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  • Why is it that god doesn't reveal himself through an
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  • Audible voice?
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  • Or why doesn't he reveal himself through supernatural signs so
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  • That everybody in the world would know he exists?
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  • Have you ever wondered why it is that if god is really there, why
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  • Doesn't he answer our prayer requests with a definite yes or
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  • A definite no instead of an ambiguous silence many times,
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  • Subject to misinterpretation?
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  • Have you ever wondered if there really is a god in heaven?
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  • Why doesn't he answer your request for guidance in a
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  • Decision you're confronting?
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  • Why doesn't he tell you what to do when you really want to know
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  • What he wants you to do, instead of allowing you to flounder
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  • Around in a fog of uncertainty?
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  • By the way, if you've ever wrestled with those questions
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  • Before, you're not alone.
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  • Throughout the centuries, men and women of faith have wrestled
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  • With what theologians call the hiddenness of god.
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  • What i like to call god's thundering silence.
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  • Think for example of noah.
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  • God told noah and his family to enter into an ark.
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  • He was gonna destroy the world with the flood.
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  • But think about it, from the time that god told noah to enter
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  • Into the ark until the time noah left the ark, more than a year
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  • Elapsed during which time there is no record that god ever spoke
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  • To noah.
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  • Think what it must have been like for noah and his family.
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  • For 382 days, they bobbed upon the water, listening to the
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  • Terrifying screams of men, women, and children on the
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  • Outside, drowning to death, begging for help.
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  • And those terror-filled screams were followed by an
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  • Eerie silence.
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  • I imagine noah and his family were frightened.
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  • I imagine they called out to god, "god, where are you?
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  • Are you still there?
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  • Have you forgotten about us?"
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  • But god answered with a stony silence.
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  • Or think about abraham.
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  • When abraham was 75, god said, "abraham, i'm gonna make you the
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  • Father of a great nation," and yet more than a decade passed
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  • And there was no word from god.
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  • Finally, abraham and sarah decided to take matters into
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  • Their own hands.
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  • Perhaps they had heard one of those sermons, "god has no hands
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  • But our hands and no feet but our feet," so they decided, "we
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  • Need to help god fulfill his promise."
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  • And so, they concocted this plan to make abraham a father.
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  • They provided a night for abraham with hagar, the
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  • Handmaiden, a night of forbidden pleasure that would have made
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  • Elliot spitzer blush.
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  • After that night of passion, hagar conceived a child.
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  • The bible says in genesis chapter 16, "now abraham was
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  • Eight-six years old when hagar gave birth to ishmael."
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  • Genesis 16:16, "abram was eight-six years old when hagar
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  • Bore ishmael to him."
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  • Now, between genesis 16 and 16, and the next verse which is
  • 00:04:57.075 --> 00:05:01.747
  • Genesis 17:1, there's just some white space in your bible.
  • 00:05:01.747 --> 00:05:06.084
  • But in that white space, 13 years elapsed because genesis
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  • 17:1 says, "now when abram was ninety-nine years old, the lord
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  • Again appeared to him."
  • 00:05:15.260 --> 00:05:17.329
  • Think about that, 13 years during which god said nothing
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  • To abraham.
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  • I'm sure abraham had all these questions.
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  • "god, why did you uproot me from my homeland to be the father of
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  • A great nation and yet no promise?
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  • God, why don't you do something to help me and to mend this
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  • Fractured marriage?"
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  • Yet nothing from god.
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  • I think about david.
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  • You know, david's an interesting character.
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  • David had a lot of ups and downs, an erratic personality,
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  • If you will.
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  • There were times that he was on the spiritual mountain top, and
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  • Some of the psalms that he penned reflect that.
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  • In psalm 34, he was feeling especially good about his
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  • Relationship with god.
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  • Listen to his words in psalm 34, "i will bless the lord at all
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  • Times; his praise shall be
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  • Continually on my mouth.
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  • My soul shall make its boast in the lord; the humble shall hear
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  • It and rejoice.
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  • O magnify the lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
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  • For i sought the lord, and he answered me, and he delivered me
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  • From all of my fears."
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  • During that period in david's time, all he would have to do is
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  • Ask god to do something.
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  • God would answer dramatically and immediately.
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  • That was one time in david's life.
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  • But david also suffered great lows, great times of melancholy
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  • In his relationship with god.
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  • Psalm 22, david said, "my god, my god, why hast thou
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  • Forsaken me?
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  • Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
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  • O my god, i cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, i
  • 00:06:48.887 --> 00:06:55.227
  • Have no rest."
  • 00:06:55.227 --> 00:06:58.129
  • "when i need you the most," david said, "you refuse to
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  • Answer me.
  • 00:07:02.367 --> 00:07:04.069
  • Why have you forsaken me?"
  • 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:07.639
  • By the way, if those words sound familiar to you, those are the
  • 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:12.043
  • Very words that jesus christ himself would utter from the
  • 00:07:12.043 --> 00:07:16.081
  • Cross 900 years after david wrote these words.
  • 00:07:16.081 --> 00:07:20.185
  • Think about it.
  • 00:07:20.185 --> 00:07:21.553
  • Jesus christ had obeyed god perfectly, he had never sinned
  • 00:07:21.553 --> 00:07:26.024
  • Once, he had totally submitted himself to god's will for his
  • 00:07:26.024 --> 00:07:29.628
  • Life, and yet on that good friday, jesus cried out, "my
  • 00:07:29.628 --> 00:07:34.299
  • God, my god, why have you forsaken me?"
  • 00:07:34.299 --> 00:07:40.739
  • We have heard those words so frequently, they've lost their
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  • Impact to us.
  • 00:07:44.409 --> 00:07:46.244
  • Think about it.
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  • Jesus, the perfect son of god, spent the last hour of his
  • 00:07:47.612 --> 00:07:52.551
  • Earthly life expressing great discouragement, great dismay,
  • 00:07:52.551 --> 00:08:00.592
  • Great disappointment with god.
  • 00:08:00.592 --> 00:08:03.895
  • Maybe if you're honest, that's your experience too.
  • 00:08:07.666 --> 00:08:12.971
  • You're disappointed with god for the way he has refused to act in
  • 00:08:12.971 --> 00:08:17.609
  • Your life.
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  • You desperately desire god to intervene in some crisis that
  • 00:08:19.744 --> 00:08:23.815
  • You're facing right now, perhaps with your health, or with a
  • 00:08:23.815 --> 00:08:27.986
  • Relationship, or with one of your children.
  • 00:08:27.986 --> 00:08:31.256
  • You cry out to god for god's help.
  • 00:08:31.256 --> 00:08:34.492
  • Or maybe you're desperately seeking god's guidance in your
  • 00:08:34.492 --> 00:08:37.295
  • Life about a decision, you want to know his will.
  • 00:08:37.295 --> 00:08:41.032
  • And yet, god meets your request for help, your request for
  • 00:08:41.032 --> 00:08:44.903
  • Guidance with that eerie silence.
  • 00:08:44.903 --> 00:08:49.507
  • "god, why don't you answer my requests?"
  • 00:08:49.507 --> 00:08:54.145
  • Why is it that we experience god's thundering silence in
  • 00:08:54.145 --> 00:08:59.184
  • Our life?
  • 00:08:59.184 --> 00:09:00.585
  • So, i looked through the scriptures, i discovered that
  • 00:09:00.585 --> 00:09:03.154
  • There are at least four reasons the bible gives us for his
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  • Silence in our life.
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  • First of all, the bible says one reason for god's silence may be
  • 00:09:09.327 --> 00:09:14.466
  • Unconfessed sin in our life.
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  • Unconfessed sin.
  • 00:09:17.102 --> 00:09:18.436
  • Now hear me, this isn't the only reason, but it is a major reason
  • 00:09:18.436 --> 00:09:22.807
  • Sometimes for god's silence, our unconfessed sin.
  • 00:09:22.807 --> 00:09:26.845
  • Isaiah 59, verse 2, god says, "your iniquities have made a
  • 00:09:26.845 --> 00:09:31.216
  • Separation between you and your god.
  • 00:09:31.216 --> 00:09:34.252
  • And your sins have hidden his face from you, so that god does
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  • Not," what?
  • 00:09:38.356 --> 00:09:40.025
  • "hear."
  • 00:09:40.025 --> 00:09:41.393
  • Your sin is a barrier between you and god.
  • 00:09:41.393 --> 00:09:43.695
  • By the way, we use that verse in evangelism that there's a
  • 00:09:43.695 --> 00:09:47.666
  • Separation between god and us and that christ bridges
  • 00:09:47.666 --> 00:09:50.335
  • That separation.
  • 00:09:50.335 --> 00:09:51.703
  • That's fine to do, but well, you know, that that verse was not
  • 00:09:51.703 --> 00:09:53.938
  • Written to unbelievers.
  • 00:09:53.938 --> 00:09:55.507
  • It was written to god's own people, the israelites.
  • 00:09:55.507 --> 00:09:58.143
  • God said to the israelites, "even though you belong to me,
  • 00:09:58.143 --> 00:10:01.179
  • Your sin is a separation, your disobedience has formed this
  • 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:05.483
  • Chasm between you and me so that i cannot hear your prayers."
  • 00:10:05.483 --> 00:10:10.555
  • Or psalm 66, verse 18, david said, "if i regard, if i allow,
  • 00:10:10.555 --> 00:10:15.527
  • Wickedness in my heart, the lord will not," what?
  • 00:10:15.527 --> 00:10:20.131
  • "hear."
  • 00:10:20.131 --> 00:10:21.466
  • If i allow any area of sin in my life, god will not hear
  • 00:10:21.466 --> 00:10:25.570
  • My prayer.
  • 00:10:25.570 --> 00:10:26.905
  • I gave the woman this verse from 1 peter chapter 3, verse 12,
  • 00:10:26.905 --> 00:10:30.775
  • "for the eyes of the lord are upon the righteous, and his ears
  • 00:10:30.775 --> 00:10:34.479
  • Attend to their prayer, but the face of the lord is," what?
  • 00:10:34.479 --> 00:10:39.017
  • "against those who do evil."
  • 00:10:39.017 --> 00:10:43.922
  • The scripture is very clear, sin in our life is a barrier between
  • 00:10:43.922 --> 00:10:49.227
  • Us and god.
  • 00:10:49.227 --> 00:10:50.562
  • It keeps god from hearing or answering our prayers.
  • 00:10:50.562 --> 00:10:54.332
  • The late norman vincent peale told the story about the time he
  • 00:10:54.332 --> 00:10:58.436
  • Was small and he decided while his father was away, that he
  • 00:10:58.436 --> 00:11:03.475
  • Would engage in some forbidden behavior.
  • 00:11:03.475 --> 00:11:06.711
  • He would smoke a cigar.
  • 00:11:06.711 --> 00:11:09.280
  • His dad had always forbidden him to ever to smoke a cigar.
  • 00:11:09.280 --> 00:11:13.518
  • So, peale said he went out behind the house and he lit up a
  • 00:11:13.518 --> 00:11:17.288
  • Cigar and was smoking it away when to his horror he saw his
  • 00:11:17.288 --> 00:11:21.493
  • Father approaching him.
  • 00:11:21.493 --> 00:11:24.095
  • Not knowing what to do, peale said he just took the cigar and
  • 00:11:24.095 --> 00:11:26.798
  • He placed it behind his back.
  • 00:11:26.798 --> 00:11:28.266
  • And when his dad got closer, he said, "dad, look at that
  • 00:11:28.266 --> 00:11:31.236
  • Billboard over there.
  • 00:11:31.236 --> 00:11:33.238
  • See that billboard talking about the circus coming to town?
  • 00:11:33.238 --> 00:11:36.374
  • Do you think you could take me to the circus?"
  • 00:11:36.374 --> 00:11:39.477
  • And peale's father looked down at him and said, "son, i learned
  • 00:11:39.477 --> 00:11:43.014
  • A long time ago, never petition your father while holding
  • 00:11:43.014 --> 00:11:48.386
  • Smoldering disobedience in your hands."
  • 00:11:48.386 --> 00:11:51.489
  • There's a good spiritual principle to that.
  • 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:58.296
  • Don't be asking your heavenly father for something while
  • 00:11:58.296 --> 00:12:01.533
  • You're holding on to disobedience.
  • 00:12:01.533 --> 00:12:05.503
  • Maybe right now there's some area of your life in which
  • 00:12:05.503 --> 00:12:09.808
  • You're being disobedient to god.
  • 00:12:09.808 --> 00:12:12.811
  • Perhaps for some of you, it's an immoral relationship.
  • 00:12:12.811 --> 00:12:16.214
  • It may be a pre-marital affair you're involved in, an
  • 00:12:16.214 --> 00:12:20.084
  • Extramarital affair, something you know is wrong.
  • 00:12:20.084 --> 00:12:23.888
  • Perhaps there is some secret sin in your life that is destroying
  • 00:12:23.888 --> 00:12:27.559
  • Your life.
  • 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:29.594
  • Perhaps it's bitterness you have in your heart toward
  • 00:12:29.594 --> 00:12:32.864
  • Another christian.
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  • Perhaps even somebody in this fellowship of believers.
  • 00:12:34.666 --> 00:12:38.503
  • Maybe somebody in your family.
  • 00:12:38.503 --> 00:12:41.306
  • Perhaps you have allowed unbridled greed and ambition to
  • 00:12:41.306 --> 00:12:45.543
  • Replace god's rightful place in your life.
  • 00:12:45.543 --> 00:12:50.515
  • It's that sin.
  • 00:12:50.515 --> 00:12:52.350
  • That sin that is responsible for god's silence in your life.
  • 00:12:52.350 --> 00:12:57.188
  • "if i regard iniquity in my heart," the bible says, "the
  • 00:12:57.188 --> 00:13:01.025
  • Lord will not hear me."
  • 00:13:01.025 --> 00:13:04.863
  • A second reason for god's silence can be what i call
  • 00:13:04.863 --> 00:13:08.867
  • Uncontrolled emotions, uncontrolled emotions.
  • 00:13:08.867 --> 00:13:15.874
  • If like me, you have a house filled with girls, you probably
  • 00:13:15.874 --> 00:13:22.313
  • Know that the care and tending to of hair is a
  • 00:13:22.313 --> 00:13:25.183
  • Full-time occupation.
  • 00:13:25.183 --> 00:13:27.352
  • Washing it, blow drying it, teasing it, doing all kinds
  • 00:13:27.352 --> 00:13:31.155
  • Of things.
  • 00:13:31.155 --> 00:13:32.490
  • It takes a lot of time to take care of hair.
  • 00:13:32.490 --> 00:13:35.126
  • I remember when our girls were very small, my job on saturday
  • 00:13:35.126 --> 00:13:38.396
  • Night after their bath would be to blow dry their hair for them
  • 00:13:38.396 --> 00:13:42.033
  • As we'd sit on the sofa and watch some television program.
  • 00:13:42.033 --> 00:13:45.670
  • So, i'd be blow drying the hair, but invariably, the whirring
  • 00:13:45.670 --> 00:13:50.208
  • Blow dryer would drown out the sound coming from the
  • 00:13:50.208 --> 00:13:53.378
  • Television set.
  • 00:13:53.378 --> 00:13:54.812
  • So, i'd always reach for my trusty remote control which was
  • 00:13:54.812 --> 00:13:58.016
  • Never far from me, and i'd crank up the volume to overcome the
  • 00:13:58.016 --> 00:14:02.520
  • Blow dryer.
  • 00:14:02.520 --> 00:14:04.122
  • Now, why would i do that?
  • 00:14:04.122 --> 00:14:06.291
  • Is it because no sound was emanating from the
  • 00:14:06.291 --> 00:14:08.860
  • Television set?
  • 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:10.228
  • No, no, there was voices coming from that television set.
  • 00:14:10.228 --> 00:14:13.564
  • It wasn't that there were no voices coming, it was that the
  • 00:14:13.564 --> 00:14:16.634
  • Proximity of the hair dryer, that other sound was drowning
  • 00:14:16.634 --> 00:14:19.904
  • Out the voice coming from the set.
  • 00:14:19.904 --> 00:14:22.907
  • And it's the same way with god's voice in our life.
  • 00:14:22.907 --> 00:14:26.611
  • Many times, god is speaking to us, but we can't hear him
  • 00:14:26.611 --> 00:14:31.249
  • Because there is another sound drowning out his voice.
  • 00:14:31.249 --> 00:14:35.353
  • And perhaps of all of the emotions close to us that
  • 00:14:35.353 --> 00:14:39.324
  • Overshadow god's voice in our life, none is more potent than
  • 00:14:39.324 --> 00:14:43.127
  • The emotion of fear.
  • 00:14:43.127 --> 00:14:46.564
  • Fear has a way of deafening, silencing the voice of god in
  • 00:14:46.564 --> 00:14:51.235
  • Our life.
  • 00:14:51.235 --> 00:14:52.971
  • There's a third reason sometimes god is silent, and that is what
  • 00:14:52.971 --> 00:14:57.041
  • I call unpredictable timing.
  • 00:14:57.041 --> 00:14:59.610
  • That is the reason god doesn't answer is because he's not ready
  • 00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:03.748
  • To answer yet.
  • 00:15:03.748 --> 00:15:05.683
  • That is, he has something else he is doing that is beyond
  • 00:15:05.683 --> 00:15:09.320
  • Our comprehension.
  • 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:11.255
  • Great illustration of that is found in john chapter 11.
  • 00:15:11.255 --> 00:15:14.325
  • Turn over to john chapter 11 for a moment.
  • 00:15:14.325 --> 00:15:16.928
  • This is the familiar story of mary and martha and their
  • 00:15:16.928 --> 00:15:20.264
  • Brother lazarus.
  • 00:15:20.264 --> 00:15:21.766
  • Remember mary and martha, two sisters, their brother lazarus,
  • 00:15:21.766 --> 00:15:25.403
  • They were jesus's closest friends here on earth.
  • 00:15:25.403 --> 00:15:29.640
  • Wouldn't it be neat to be known as jesus's best friends?
  • 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:32.910
  • These were jesus's very best friends here on the earth.
  • 00:15:32.910 --> 00:15:36.647
  • And that's why when lazarus, the brother, became ill, it was only
  • 00:15:36.647 --> 00:15:41.052
  • Natural for mary and martha to send word to jesus and say,
  • 00:15:41.052 --> 00:15:44.922
  • "jesus, your best friend, the one whom you love, lazarus,
  • 00:15:44.922 --> 00:15:48.960
  • Is sick.
  • 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.294
  • Please come and heal him."
  • 00:15:50.294 --> 00:15:52.797
  • Natural request, but their request was met with silence.
  • 00:15:52.797 --> 00:15:58.002
  • Look at verse 5, "now jesus loved martha, and her sister,
  • 00:15:58.002 --> 00:16:03.508
  • And lazarus.
  • 00:16:03.508 --> 00:16:05.209
  • When therefore jesus heard that lazarus was sick, he stayed then
  • 00:16:05.209 --> 00:16:09.914
  • Two days longer in the place where he was."
  • 00:16:09.914 --> 00:16:14.152
  • Instead of coming and healing lazarus, jesus stayed there and
  • 00:16:14.152 --> 00:16:18.189
  • Waited until lazarus died.
  • 00:16:18.189 --> 00:16:21.192
  • And yet he was lazarus's best friend.
  • 00:16:21.192 --> 00:16:25.329
  • You almost have to think with friends like jesus, who needs
  • 00:16:25.329 --> 00:16:27.698
  • Any enemies?
  • 00:16:27.698 --> 00:16:30.101
  • Why in the world would he do that?
  • 00:16:30.101 --> 00:16:31.936
  • Why would he allow lazarus to die instead of answering the
  • 00:16:31.936 --> 00:16:36.074
  • Request for healing?
  • 00:16:36.074 --> 00:16:37.742
  • Verse 20, when jesus finally got around to go to bethany to visit
  • 00:16:37.742 --> 00:16:41.646
  • Mary and martha and their dead brother, martha was ready to let
  • 00:16:41.646 --> 00:16:46.984
  • Him have a piece of her mind.
  • 00:16:46.984 --> 00:16:49.120
  • By the way, i have to say, just confess to you, i like martha.
  • 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.557
  • I know you're supposed to like mary better, but i like martha.
  • 00:16:52.557 --> 00:16:55.927
  • You know, all this have a mary heart and a martha world and
  • 00:16:55.927 --> 00:16:58.162
  • All that.
  • 00:16:58.162 --> 00:16:59.530
  • I like martha.
  • 00:16:59.530 --> 00:17:00.865
  • The reason i like martha is she was willing to ask jesus the
  • 00:17:00.865 --> 00:17:03.534
  • Hard questions, and she wasn't timid.
  • 00:17:03.534 --> 00:17:06.504
  • And so, she runs out to meet the lord and she said, "lord, if you
  • 00:17:06.504 --> 00:17:09.974
  • Had only been here, our brother lazarus would still be alive.
  • 00:17:09.974 --> 00:17:14.212
  • Why did you wait?
  • 00:17:14.212 --> 00:17:15.546
  • Why did you delay?"
  • 00:17:15.546 --> 00:17:17.882
  • See, the reason was jesus and martha had two different goals
  • 00:17:17.882 --> 00:17:22.487
  • And therefore two different timetables.
  • 00:17:22.487 --> 00:17:25.490
  • Martha's goal was immediate healing for her brother lazarus.
  • 00:17:25.490 --> 00:17:31.429
  • Jesus's goal was ultimate resurrection, not only for
  • 00:17:31.429 --> 00:17:36.267
  • Lazarus, but for everyone who would believe on him.
  • 00:17:36.267 --> 00:17:40.671
  • You see, jesus had a plan.
  • 00:17:40.671 --> 00:17:42.907
  • His plan including allowing lazarus to die so that a few
  • 00:17:42.907 --> 00:17:47.044
  • Days later, jesus could raise lazarus from the dead as proof
  • 00:17:47.044 --> 00:17:51.782
  • To anyone who would trust in him that he was capable of
  • 00:17:51.782 --> 00:17:55.419
  • Performing resurrection.
  • 00:17:55.419 --> 00:17:58.322
  • Two different goals, and therefore two
  • 00:17:58.322 --> 00:18:00.825
  • Different timetables.
  • 00:18:00.825 --> 00:18:03.461
  • And think about moses.
  • 00:18:03.461 --> 00:18:05.196
  • Remember moses from the time he was small, god had said to moses
  • 00:18:05.196 --> 00:18:09.333
  • That he was going to be the great liberator of israel from
  • 00:18:09.333 --> 00:18:12.036
  • Egyptian bondage.
  • 00:18:12.036 --> 00:18:13.971
  • Moses felt like that was his calling in life, his life work,
  • 00:18:13.971 --> 00:18:17.141
  • If you will.
  • 00:18:17.141 --> 00:18:18.776
  • Grew up, nothing while he was a teenager, nothing in his 20s,
  • 00:18:18.776 --> 00:18:22.647
  • Nothing in his 30s.
  • 00:18:22.647 --> 00:18:24.348
  • Finally, about the time he was 40, acts 7 says he had a
  • 00:18:24.348 --> 00:18:27.818
  • Midlife crisis.
  • 00:18:27.818 --> 00:18:29.954
  • He decided, "i'm not getting any younger, and if i'm going to be
  • 00:18:29.954 --> 00:18:32.823
  • The liberator of israel, i better take matters into my
  • 00:18:32.823 --> 00:18:35.326
  • Own hands."
  • 00:18:35.326 --> 00:18:36.694
  • You know the story.
  • 00:18:36.694 --> 00:18:38.029
  • He saw this fight going on between an egyptian soldier and
  • 00:18:38.029 --> 00:18:40.932
  • One of the israelites, and he decided to intervene, and he
  • 00:18:40.932 --> 00:18:44.068
  • Killed the egyptian soldier thinking the israelites would
  • 00:18:44.068 --> 00:18:46.804
  • Rally behind him, and that would begin the revolution.
  • 00:18:46.804 --> 00:18:50.708
  • Didn't quite work out that way, did it?
  • 00:18:50.708 --> 00:18:53.110
  • Instead, the israelites didn't follow after him.
  • 00:18:53.110 --> 00:18:56.581
  • Moses spent the next 40 years in exile, running from pharaoh,
  • 00:18:56.581 --> 00:19:02.086
  • Doing nothing but tending the sheep in the wilderness.
  • 00:19:02.086 --> 00:19:07.491
  • I imagine it was during those 40 years that moses had some hard
  • 00:19:07.491 --> 00:19:12.096
  • Questions for god.
  • 00:19:12.096 --> 00:19:13.965
  • "god, have you forgotten about me?
  • 00:19:13.965 --> 00:19:16.300
  • Have you forgotten the role to which you've called me?
  • 00:19:16.300 --> 00:19:19.637
  • What about your promise that i would be the liberator
  • 00:19:19.637 --> 00:19:22.440
  • Of israel?"
  • 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:24.475
  • No record that god said anything to moses during those 40 years.
  • 00:19:24.475 --> 00:19:30.781
  • Why didn't he answer moses?
  • 00:19:30.781 --> 00:19:33.551
  • It's because moses and god had a different timetable.
  • 00:19:33.551 --> 00:19:37.054
  • See, god hadn't forgotten about moses.
  • 00:19:37.054 --> 00:19:38.789
  • He knew exactly where moses was, but god had something he was
  • 00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:42.360
  • Doing over here in egypt that moses was completely unaware of.
  • 00:19:42.360 --> 00:19:46.764
  • It was time for a change of pharaohs, and god was gonna
  • 00:19:46.764 --> 00:19:50.268
  • Bring that about before he ever accomplished his purpose
  • 00:19:50.268 --> 00:19:52.970
  • With moses.
  • 00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:54.705
  • That's why in exodus chapter 2, verses 23 and 24, it says, "now
  • 00:19:54.705 --> 00:19:58.976
  • It came about in the course of many days," months and years.
  • 00:19:58.976 --> 00:20:06.484
  • "it came in the course of those many days that the king of
  • 00:20:06.484 --> 00:20:10.087
  • Egypt died.
  • 00:20:10.087 --> 00:20:11.722
  • And the sons of israel sighed because of their bondage, so god
  • 00:20:11.722 --> 00:20:16.694
  • Heard their groanings."
  • 00:20:16.694 --> 00:20:20.731
  • There's a fourth reason that sometimes god is silent in our
  • 00:20:20.731 --> 00:20:26.170
  • Life, that god makes us wait, and that's because of an
  • 00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:29.607
  • Undeveloped faith, an undeveloped faith.
  • 00:20:29.607 --> 00:20:34.412
  • Ben patterson says that what god does in us while we're waiting
  • 00:20:34.412 --> 00:20:40.217
  • Is sometimes more important than that which we're waiting for.
  • 00:20:40.217 --> 00:20:44.288
  • See, so many times we think that waiting is something we just
  • 00:20:44.288 --> 00:20:46.991
  • Endure until god gives us what we want, but it's in the waiting
  • 00:20:46.991 --> 00:20:50.895
  • That we become the kind of person god wants us to become.
  • 00:20:50.895 --> 00:20:56.434
  • Søren kierkegaard says that we christians are like
  • 00:20:56.434 --> 00:20:59.904
  • Schoolchildren that want to go to the back of the book and look
  • 00:20:59.904 --> 00:21:03.040
  • Up the math answers instead of working through the
  • 00:21:03.040 --> 00:21:06.177
  • Problems ourselves.
  • 00:21:06.177 --> 00:21:08.512
  • But we all know that the learning comes not from in
  • 00:21:08.512 --> 00:21:12.016
  • Getting the answers, but going through this process, the
  • 00:21:12.016 --> 00:21:14.785
  • Struggle of arriving at the right answer.
  • 00:21:14.785 --> 00:21:19.090
  • It's the same way in god's dealing with us.
  • 00:21:19.090 --> 00:21:23.461
  • In his book "sabbatical journeys," henri nouwen tells
  • 00:21:23.461 --> 00:21:27.465
  • About a family he visited once.
  • 00:21:27.465 --> 00:21:29.934
  • They were a family of trapeze artists that called themselves
  • 00:21:29.934 --> 00:21:33.270
  • The flying rudellas.
  • 00:21:33.270 --> 00:21:35.806
  • And they were visiting with henri nouwen and they were
  • 00:21:35.806 --> 00:21:37.908
  • Talking about the trapeze act and that crucial relationship
  • 00:21:37.908 --> 00:21:42.246
  • That exists between the flyer, that's the person that lets go
  • 00:21:42.246 --> 00:21:46.083
  • Of the trapeze bar, and the catcher, the one that catches
  • 00:21:46.083 --> 00:21:49.954
  • The person that has let go of the trapeze bar.
  • 00:21:49.954 --> 00:21:53.758
  • And they said there comes that crucial time in a trapeze act
  • 00:21:53.758 --> 00:21:57.528
  • When the flyer lets go of the bar, he arcs out into space, and
  • 00:21:57.528 --> 00:22:02.900
  • Then he waits for the catcher to catch him.
  • 00:22:02.900 --> 00:22:07.171
  • They said to nouwen, "the flyer must never try to catch
  • 00:22:07.171 --> 00:22:12.343
  • The catcher.
  • 00:22:12.343 --> 00:22:14.278
  • Instead, he must wait in stillness for the catcher to do
  • 00:22:14.278 --> 00:22:19.417
  • His work."
  • 00:22:19.417 --> 00:22:22.853
  • For some of you right now, you've released, you've let go,
  • 00:22:22.853 --> 00:22:28.225
  • And you're waiting, you're waiting on god to do something.
  • 00:22:28.225 --> 00:22:34.365
  • God's message for you this morning is, "be still and know
  • 00:22:34.365 --> 00:22:41.338
  • That i am god.
  • 00:22:41.338 --> 00:22:44.041
  • I will catch you, i will answer you in my way and in my time."
  • 00:22:44.041 --> 00:22:52.516
  • Jeffress: even at this very moment, i know i'm speaking to
  • 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.457
  • Someone who's been catapulted into the air and you're waiting
  • 00:22:59.457 --> 00:23:03.661
  • For god to grasp your hands and catch you.
  • 00:23:03.661 --> 00:23:07.064
  • I'm asking god to use today's message to assure you that he's
  • 00:23:07.064 --> 00:23:11.802
  • Trustworthy and faithful, and he will not let you fall.
  • 00:23:11.802 --> 00:23:16.173
  • In the time remaining today, i wanna share a note from
  • 00:23:16.173 --> 00:23:18.876
  • Elizabeth in south carolina.
  • 00:23:18.876 --> 00:23:21.245
  • She wrote, "i listen to pathway to victory on my way
  • 00:23:21.245 --> 00:23:24.415
  • Home from work every day.
  • 00:23:24.415 --> 00:23:26.617
  • Somehow you always seem to speak to what's going on in my life."
  • 00:23:26.617 --> 00:23:30.888
  • And then elizabeth described how she's learning to accept god's
  • 00:23:30.888 --> 00:23:34.291
  • Forgiveness and his willingness to grant her a second chance
  • 00:23:34.291 --> 00:23:37.795
  • In life.
  • 00:23:37.795 --> 00:23:39.163
  • Isn't that great?
  • 00:23:39.163 --> 00:23:40.531
  • Friends, these moments of spiritual transformation are
  • 00:23:40.531 --> 00:23:43.701
  • Made possible because of people like you who support "pathway
  • 00:23:43.701 --> 00:23:47.571
  • To victory."
  • 00:23:47.571 --> 00:23:48.906
  • So, on behalf of elizabeth and millions of others, thank you so
  • 00:23:48.906 --> 00:23:52.877
  • Much for standing with us.
  • 00:23:52.877 --> 00:23:55.045
  • Now stay right there.
  • 00:23:55.045 --> 00:23:56.413
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:23:56.413 --> 00:23:59.884
  • Announcer: life's most important crossroads often arrive
  • 00:24:02.052 --> 00:24:04.755
  • Without warning.
  • 00:24:04.755 --> 00:24:06.223
  • When the stakes are high and the path forward isn't clear, how
  • 00:24:06.223 --> 00:24:09.693
  • Can you be confident you're following god's will?
  • 00:24:09.693 --> 00:24:12.329
  • In "how to make wise decisions," trusted author and bible teacher
  • 00:24:12.396 --> 00:24:16.634
  • Dr. robert jeffress offers you practical advice on how you can
  • 00:24:16.634 --> 00:24:20.437
  • Know with certainty the will of god in any situation.
  • 00:24:20.437 --> 00:24:24.074
  • Jeffress: one of the most frequently asked questions i
  • 00:24:24.074 --> 00:24:26.911
  • Receive as a pastor is, "how can i know god's will for my life?"
  • 00:24:26.911 --> 00:24:31.715
  • Too many believers are paralyzed by fear of making the wrong
  • 00:24:31.715 --> 00:24:35.386
  • Choice, but god hasn't left us guessing.
  • 00:24:35.386 --> 00:24:38.389
  • In my book, i reveal the biblical principles for
  • 00:24:38.389 --> 00:24:41.559
  • Recognizing god's voice and discerning god's will.
  • 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:45.529
  • Announcer: request your copy of "how to make wise decisions"
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  • When you give a generous gift to "pathway to victory" or when you
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  • Become a pathway partner.
  • 00:24:51.902 --> 00:24:53.504
  • And with your ministry gift of $75 or more, we'll also include
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  • The complete "how to make wise decisions" teaching series on
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  • Both cd and dvd.
  • 00:25:01.345 --> 00:25:03.280
  • Jeffress: when god speaks to us, he does so more than just to
  • 00:25:03.280 --> 00:25:05.916
  • Give us courage and comfort to face our present situation.
  • 00:25:05.916 --> 00:25:09.887
  • He actually promises guidance, direction to those who trust
  • 00:25:09.887 --> 00:25:14.391
  • In him.
  • 00:25:14.391 --> 00:25:15.759
  • Announcer: thank you for partnering with us to share
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  • God's life transforming word with a world in need.
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  • Your generosity will empower "pathway to victory" to speak
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  • Bold biblical truth into your life and the lives of millions
  • 00:25:24.401 --> 00:25:28.339
  • Across the country and around the world.
  • 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:30.674
  • Jeffress: even as a pastor, i'm sometimes frustrated by
  • 00:25:33.043 --> 00:25:36.313
  • God's silence.
  • 00:25:36.313 --> 00:25:37.881
  • I too know what it feels like to wonder if my prayers are falling
  • 00:25:37.881 --> 00:25:41.585
  • On deaf ears.
  • 00:25:41.585 --> 00:25:43.153
  • Yes, sometimes god makes us wait, but in the end, it's for
  • 00:25:43.153 --> 00:25:47.057
  • Our good and for his glory.
  • 00:25:47.057 --> 00:25:49.927
  • Well, what happens if we can't hear god's voice to help us make
  • 00:25:49.927 --> 00:25:53.731
  • The right decision, or what happens when our decisions prove
  • 00:25:53.731 --> 00:25:57.501
  • To be a major mistake?
  • 00:25:57.501 --> 00:25:59.870
  • Next time, i'm going to explain why the sovereignty of god
  • 00:25:59.870 --> 00:26:03.774
  • Should inspire confidence in our decision making.
  • 00:26:03.774 --> 00:26:07.578
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:07.578 --> 00:26:10.214
  • Series "how to make wise decisions."
  • 00:26:10.214 --> 00:26:14.718
  • Jeffress: what if i'm wrong?
  • 00:26:14.718 --> 00:26:16.754
  • What if i make this decision and it's a mistake?
  • 00:26:16.754 --> 00:26:20.557
  • What if what i am feeling is not god's leading, but it's my
  • 00:26:20.557 --> 00:26:24.128
  • Own desires?
  • 00:26:24.128 --> 00:26:26.096
  • What if i fail?
  • 00:26:26.096 --> 00:26:28.399
  • Well this morning i want to assure you that underneath our
  • 00:26:28.399 --> 00:26:32.603
  • Every decision, our every circumstance, even underneath
  • 00:26:32.603 --> 00:26:37.341
  • Our every mistake is a safety net called the sovereignty
  • 00:26:37.341 --> 00:26:42.646
  • Of god.
  • 00:26:42.646 --> 00:26:44.248
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for the message,
  • 00:26:44.248 --> 00:26:47.451
  • "the shepherd's safety net" here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:26:47.451 --> 00:26:50.921
  • Announcer: take a journey through alaska's awe-inspiring
  • 00:26:54.558 --> 00:26:57.127
  • Wilderness on the 2026 "pathway to victory" cruise to alaska
  • 00:26:57.127 --> 00:27:00.998
  • With dr. robert jeffress aboard holland america's
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  • Magnificent koningsdam.
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  • Share laughter with dennis swanberg.
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  • Be inspired by award winning musician michael o'brien's
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  • Powerful worship.
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  • Make plans to set sail for an unforgettable week of adventure,
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  • June 13 through 20, 2026.
  • 00:27:16.080 --> 00:27:18.782
  • Call ...
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  • Or visit ptv.org.
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