The Jonah Series - Part 2: Jonah's Prayer

0:04 All right. I want you to open your Bibles to Jonah. This is part two of Jonah today. Part two of Jonah. Last week we did part one from chapter one of Jonah and we called that message Jonah's predicament. Here's a guy who has been given some instructions from God. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah rebelled and rejected God's assignment and went the opposite direction and went to Tarshish. And while he's on board the ship, headed away from God's will, they encounter a storm. and the people on the ship knew that somebody on that ship had caused some problems. And they determined and they cast lots and it showed that Jonah was the guilty party.

1:03 So they threw Jonah overboard. Go ahead, look at you and they said, there's some people you need to throw overboard. How many of you understand that where God's trying to take you, everybody can't go with you? Some of you are being held back from getting to where God wants you to be because you got the wrong people connected in your life. And so they throw Jonah overboard, and God had an Uber waiting right there for him to pick him up. He got swallowed by a great fish, the Bible says. And there he is in the middle of this fish. And in chapter 2, today we're in chapter 2, Jonah is in the belly of this fish and he prays. Chapter 2 is about Jonah's prayer.

1:59 So as a matter of fact, I'm going to title this part 2 as Jonah's prayer. I want to talk about prayer today. You know, the Bible is full of people who prayed. And I think it behooves us to learn some lessons from those people who prayed. and we ought to replicate and learn what they learned so that we might get some results from our prayers. Can I get an amen right there from everybody? So Jonah prayed and all of the 10 verses of chapter 2 relate to Jonah's prayer. And I want to walk through the structure of this prayer. Can I walk through the structure of this prayer? All right, that's what I want to do. I want to walk through the structure of this prayer. He's in the belly of the whale. He has gone in the opposite direction of God. And here's what it says in verse 2. Are y'all with verse?

2:52 Let me read verse 1 and verse 2. Let me read verse 1 and verse 2. It says, Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. And he cried, and he said, I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction. When you have an affliction, guess what? That's a good time to pray. Truth be told, that's probably the only time most of y'all pray. If y'all all say amen together, nobody will know I'm talking about you. When you get a challenge, a problem, an issue, now we won't pray.

3:30 And that's what Jonah does. He's in the middle of an affliction. He's in the middle of a troubled situation. And I'm putting verse 2 up there one more time. He says, I cried out to the Lord. Now, I want you to notice that word cried out. Y'all see that? Cried out. It's a Hebrew word that means this. That Hebrew word means he called on a specific God. Now, that's important because some of y'all be talking to whoever.

4:01 Amen. He called God out by name. He's addressing his requests to the God that he served, the specific God. And so that first word cried out means that he called God out by name. But the word cried is in there a second time. Do y'all?

4:24 Let's see. Oh, there it is. See, the second cry is a different word. It's a different Hebrew word. And that word means he hollered. The reason some of y'all don't get your prayers answered is you're not willing to open your mouth. You got to be willing to open your mouth and cry out to God. You can't be worried about what people think about you, what people say about you, people's opinion about you. You got to learn to holler, scream, cry out, make it known to God. I need thee. God, I need you to step into the domain of my life. I need you to work a miracle. That's what that second cry out means. It means he spoke out loud. Go ahead and look at your neighbor and say, I ain't heard you say nothing all service all today.

5:19 at all. God is not moved by silent prayers. God's not moved by silent prayers. I mean, it's okay if you need to be silent, sometimes that's fine, but there ought to be a time where you get by yourself with God and open your mouth and say, God, I need thee.

5:43 I'm just trying to teach you how to be generous, but you're crying out to God. Some situations, matter of fact, if you are too ashamed to worship and cry out and open your mouth to God, let me tell you something. Life is going to hand you some issues and some challenges that you will reach a time where you will open your mouth and say, help me. Come on, somebody. I need to tell God, help me. Help me from my drama. Help me from my financial situation. Help me get out of this circumstance. Help me, God. Help me. I don't care what people think about me. I don't care what people say about me. I don't care about people's opinion. Help me. If you don't come here and help me, God, I'm going to drown. If you don't come and help me now, I'm going to die. If you don't come and help and step in my situation, yes, if you don't cry out, life will treat you to a place where you will holler out and say, help me.

6:43 And the fact is Jonah was in an affliction. Somebody say affliction. That word means a tight situation. It means you're in trouble. It means you are in a bad place. And all you got to do is keep living. A bad place will come and visit you. And come into the domain of your life. And so here he finds himself. As a matter of fact, he says in verse 3, he says in verse 3, for you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me. Y'all see that right there? The waves passed over me. Now, by the way, he got there in a bad situation because of his disobedience.

7:31 Ooh, y'all don't like this kind of preaching to y'all. I know y'all was hoping I was going to give you a sermon or you would dance and shout. I'm trying to help you not get in a situation to where you will have to cry out and holler to God and be in trouble Yeah, I'm trying to get you out of that situation. Somebody look at your neighbor and say he tried to save you from trouble Amen He says that he says you cast me into the deep and into the heart of the seas I suspect there's some people in this building looking at me right now Maybe somebody watching online that's watching right now that your life is in trouble. Your circumstances are dramatic. Your problem, your circumstances, you don't see a way out. You don't see an answer. And you got there because of your rebellion to God. You chose to do something opposite of what God asked you to do. You decided.

8:24 You made the choice to disobey God. Y'all ain't got to say amen. I hear the angels in heaven whispering in my ear. Go on and tell them, John Jenkins. They know who they are. You know who you are in here today in trouble because you've been rebellious against God. You haven't obeyed God. You're not doing what God told you to do. You're not walking in his way. You're not obedient to his call upon your life. And he just told me to come by and tell you your trouble. You created the drama that you're in. Amen.

8:59 Matter of fact, his situation was so bad that Jonah said in verse 4, he said, I've been cast out of your sight. He said, I've been cast out of your sight. Y'all see that right there, verse number 4? Then he said in verse number 5, the water surrounded me, even to my soul. The deep closed around me. Weeds were wrapped around my head. Can you imagine being inside a well of fish and you got weeds? Ooh, ooh, I just think about it. It's just troublesome. Just imagine the situation he was in. And some of you are in similar situations. It may not be physical, but it might be spiritual. It might be moral. It might be financial. It might be marital. It might be some situation that you're all tangled up in something and you can't get out. And that's the situation he was in. He was in a bad situation. Verse 6, he says, the bars closed behind me forever. He says in verse 7, my soul fainted within me.

9:56 He said, y'all see, oh my God, verse 7, he said that. In verse 8, he said, those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy. Here's what he's confessing. He's confessing, oh, I forgot to tell y'all what my point was. Can I slow, let me back up. I'm so excited about this, I forgot to even tell you what the point is. Slow down. My first point is that Jonah is in a place of wretchedness.

10:27 So I'm going down through here and I forgot to tell you what the point is. He's in a wretched situation. Somebody say wretched. He's in an afflicted place, back the place. He's in the middle of this well and all of his afflictions. He's crying out to God. He's opening his mouth. the bars are closed behind him in verse 6 there are worthless idols people who regard worthless idols in verse 8 he's in a bad situation now here's what I'm here's no here's oh Lord Jesus slow down here's what I'm trying to tell you you know what I'm just going to take my time we're just going to be over that's just all that's going to be we're going to It's going to be a traffic jam. It is what it is.

11:23 I don't care how wretched your condition might be, we serve a God that always wants you crying out to him. The devil wants you to feel shame, guilt, anxiety. The devil don't want you to pray. But I think it's important that you know that God wants a relationship with you. He wants to talk with you. He wants you to hear. When you cry out to him, he will lean his ear over to your faintest cry. I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but all I'm trying to tell you is talk to God. Tell your neighbor, talk to God. I don't care how wretched your situation is. I don't care how bad it is. I don't care how ugly it might seem. I don't care how unresolvable it might appear.

12:20 Talk to God. Jonah was in the belly of a whale, a fish, and he decided, I'm in trouble. I better call on God. And he began to cry out to God. Amen. And that's the number one thing. But here's number two. Can I tell you number two? My point two. Jonah not only prayed from a place of wretchedness, He also prayed from a position of worship. Somebody say position of worship. In several places in this prayer, he worships God. In several points in his prayer, verse 4, verse 6, verse 9, he extends worship to God. In verse number 4, it says, I have been cast out of your sight, yet, here's what he says, I will look again toward your holy temple.

13:15 Y'all missed that spot right there. Let me give that to you. He said, I'm going to look towards your holy temple. Here's what he's saying. God, I'm praying, I'm going to talk to you, and I'm going to get back in church. Y'all missed a great spot right here. Yeah, I might be in trouble. He said, I'm in the wrong place. But God, if you get me out of this situation, if you get me out of the belly of this well, excuse me, excuse me. If you get me out of this trouble I'm in, I'm coming back to church. Somebody's in here today. This has probably been the first time you've been to church in a long time. you're in the midst of hell. Hell brought you here. Trouble brought you here. Issues brought you here. And if you cry out to God and say to the Lord, I'm going to get back to doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm going to make it back to the kingdom of God. I'm going to get back in church. Yeah, you ought to have been, you should have never stopped in the first place. Somebody said something to you and you stopped coming. Don't ever let nobody stop you from worshiping the almighty God. It's just kind of get an amen right there. Don't ever stop doing what you're supposed to do and where you are supposed to be, get yourself back in the kingdom of God. Stop letting somebody what they said, what they did, how they treated you. Don't let nobody stop you from worshiping the almighty God. Jonah said, I'm going to look again toward your holy temple. Who am I preaching to today? You should have never left. You should have never forsaken worshiping God.

14:51 Hallelujah. So he says, I'm going to look again towards your holy temple. But that's not the only thing he did. Look at verse number nine. He says in verse nine, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. That's worship. He said, I'm going to learn to worship God and I'm going to give him thanks. I'm going to sacrifice and give him praise. How many of y'all know that the God we serve is worthy of your thanksgiving? You know what I know about God? I know that regardless of where your life might be right now, God has done something in your life to which he's worthy of you giving him thanksgiving. You know why this is so important? Because this is basic.

15:44 But the devil don't want you to give thanksgiving. The devil wants to keep highlighting the drama and the pain and the circumstances that you're in. But there is something that God has done for you in your life that you should worship him and give him thanks. and what I like about this this particular verse, verse 6 he says I will sacrifice to you somebody say sacrifice sacrifice I feel tension in the room because I feel some people saying it's not in my temperament to open my mouth. That's not my personality.

16:29 You get enough hell in your life and your personality will change. You might as well get into practice of doing it right now. You might as well go ahead and give him praise right now. You might as well make the sacrifice and say, God, thank you. You woke me up this morning. Thank you. You gave me the activities of my limbs. Thank you. When I was driving and I almost lost control, you kept me on my side of the road and that other car on the other side of the road. You've done miracles for me that I don't deserve. Somebody say, give him a thanksgiving, a sacrifice, a sacrifice. He's worthy to be praised. Somebody say, he's worthy. High five your neighbor, say he's worthy. Damp him up, say he's worthy. I'm not ashamed to open my mouth. I'm not ashamed to give him praise.

17:22 I'm not resistant to thank God for what he's done. Worship is one of your weapons. It's a weapon against the enemy. It's a weapon to get God to move on your behalf. Give him thanks. I don't know where you are, but I've learned not only to thank God for what he has done, I'm willing to give God praise for what he's going to do. that's when you know you're saved when you know that you can give God praise for stuff he ain't even done yet hallelujah somebody say amen thank you for the doors you're already going to open thank you for the angels that you've already and are going to respect for my future thank you for the prayers that you've answered on my behalf thank you Jonah prayed from a posture of wickedness, wretchedness.

18:42 I'm sorry, wretchedness. He worshiped and prayed from a place of worship. And here's the one that's going to take some of y'all out. because y'all was shouting and hollering and waving and saying everything a moment ago. But here, I'm getting ready to say something right now that the amen's going to get real quiet. In verse 9, he says, but I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. Then he says this, I will pay what I have vowed. That means I'm going to do what I promised. some of you have made promises to God and you haven't fulfilled them some of you say I'm going to serve the Lord I'm going to worship the Lord when you were looking for that house that you wanted God to get you approved for Lord I'll go to church every Sunday when you wanted that car that you couldn't afford Lord I'll pick up saints and take them to church if you give me this car and you got the car and you ain't picked up nobody you made a promise Lord you. You promised to join a ministry. You promised to get involved. You promised and made a prayer to God that you would do this and do that, and you ain't done nothing. I told y'all y'all was going to get quiet on me right here, but the thing that's great about our God is that he's a God who will give you another chance.

20:30 Go ahead and look at your neighbor and say, God wants to give you another chance. Tell him on the other side, you need another chance. You know you ain't done what God said. You know you didn't do what he asked you to do. You know you haven't kept your word. You know you haven't walked to what you said you were going to do. But he told me to tell you he going to give you one more chance, another opportunity for you to get it right, say yes to his will, and do what he asked you to do. go where he told you to go, sign where you said you were going to serve, he will give you another chance. He was willing. Finally, I guess he would be willing in the belly of a whale. Don't make God have to put you in a hell of a situation for you to say, yes, Lord. Don't make him have to put you out on the street, on the streets, as my kids say.

21:35 Don't make him have to make you lose your job. Don't make God have to force you to say yes to him. Amen. You know what you said. Don't you? I'm finished. I got it. Here's my final point right here. Conclusion. Here's my conclusion. I love this right here. Verse 2 says, he answered me. He says in verse 2, he answered me. Out of the belly of Shoal I cried, and you heard my voice. I like that right here. We serve a God who will answer you. That's what I love about the God that we serve. He answers prayers. And how does he answer your prayer? Look at verse 10. Verse 10. Somebody going to shout on verse 10 right here. I'm going to read verse 10.

22:28 Can I read verse 10 to y'all? Verse 10 said, so the Lord spoke to the fish. Y'all missed a great spot. Who am I preaching to? God is about to speak to your situation. He's about to speak to your drama. He's about to speak to your bank account. He's about to speak to your job. He's about to speak to the thing that's been giving you hell. Somebody get ready. Somebody give God thanks. He's about to speak to my drama. He is about to speak to your fish. and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Oh, that's so powerful, y'all. God is about to speak to your situation, and when he finishes speaking, you're going to land on some dry ground. Somebody say, I don't know who I'm preaching to, but whoever you are, God wants to speak to your circumstance.

23:28 He wants to make a change to your dilemma. He's about to speak life, deliverance, breakthrough, miracles. He's about to do the spectacular. I prophesy it. I declare it. I know God's about to bring it to pass on your behalf. Who am I preaching to today? yeah that's right go ahead give him praise give him praise give him praise