Praying Like The Prodigal Prophet

Title: Praying Like the Prodigal Prophet Scripture: Jonah 2

Type: Expost/series on prayer Where: GNBC 8-23-21

Intro: Charlie Chaplin was the first movie actor in America to attain superstar status. He was the king of the silent movie era in the early 20th century. He was most famous for playing “the tramp.” The tramp was such a popular character that look-alike contests were held all around the country. People vied for prizes by imitating Chaplin as the tramp. In fact a young up-and-coming actor was first noticed when he won a Chaplin look-alike contest in Cleveland. His name was Bob Hope. Chaplin enjoyed telling the story of when a Chaplin look-alike contest was held in San Francisco. As a joke, Chaplin decided to quietly enter it. Amazingly, he failed to even make the finals! The judges decided five other men looked more like Charlie Chaplin than Charlie Chaplin did! Chaplin was staring the judges in the face and they didn’t recognize him. Sometimes we think a Christian is someone who performs a lot of outwardly religious deeds: Praying five or six times a day; attending church every time the doors are open; or giving money for the poor. The Bible teaches that a real Christian is someone who has been rescued by God when they couldn’t help themselves. Today we are going to look at the prayer of one of the most disobedient prophets who ever lived. When God rescued him from certain death. (Story attributed to Rev. David Dykes.)

Prop: Exam. Jonah 2 we’ll realize 3 Important Elements of the Prodigal Prophet’s Prayer.

BG: 1. Who was Jonah? “Son of Amittai” – v. 1 Events takes place about 750 BC.

2. Jonah was told by God to go to the great superpower of the time, Assyria, to preach repentance. Yet, Jonah did not want to do this. He wanted Assyria to experience God’s wrath and judgment.

Prop: We’ll exam. 3 Important Elements of Jonah’s Prayer in chapter 2.

I. Jonah’s Prayer Helps Us Realize that God is a God Who is Always Near and Who Always Hears. Vv.2-4

A. The Book of Jonah Begins with the Prodigal Prophet Attempting to Prove this statement False.

1. In chapter 1 Jonah runs away from and not towards the will of God.

a. “The context of the book gives us no evidence pointing in this direction. We saw from Jonah 1 that this prodigal prophet willfully sought to disobey the command of God to cry against the great city of Nineveh. Instead of traveling something over 500 miles to the Northeast to arrive at Nineveh, Jonah set out by ship from Joppa, heading Northwest, toward Tarshish. Jonah’s disobedience brought about a storm, which threatened the ship and the sailors. Only through their persistent questioning did they learn the reason for the storm, and only after great efforts to save Jonah did they cast him overboard. The sailors, unlike Jonah, responded obediently to the revelation they received, and they were left topside, praising God. Chapter 2 picks up the story from the undersea perspective, describing the prayer and the plight of Jonah as poetically depicted. In chapter 3, Jonah will be commanded for the second time to cry against the Ninevites, which he finally does, leading to the repentance of the entire city, and the “changing of God’s mind.” Chapter 4 shows us that Jonah’s attitude has not changed. There, he explains his disobedience in very unflattering terms, explaining why he did not want to preach to the Assyrians.” (Bob Deffinbaugh, study of Jonah 2)

b. In Psalm 139:7-12 The Psalmist asks where he could go where God would not be. Although Jonah tests the limits of the Psalmist’s parameters, the Prodigal Prophet will realize the same. Even in the belly of a great fish in the depths of the Sea of Arabah, God is there. As I begin this message this am. maybe there is someone here today, like Jonah you have decided to run far from God. Maybe you think you’ve gone so far that your out of “ear shot” of God. Never! Let Jonah’s prayer be a comfort to you.

2. Jonah Prayed to God on the very path of his rebellion.

a. Illust: God had called Jonah to travel to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire (Near modern Mosul, Iraq.) to preach repentance. However he refused! Illust: Can you imagine Moody, Sunday, or Graham, telling God “No! I am not going to preach to those mean people!”? The trip God was asking Jonah to take would have been 500 miles NE over land. Instead, in his rebellion, Jonah goes to the port of Joppa and hops a ship to Tarshish (2500 miles) West near modern day city of Cadiz, Spain.

b. Illust: I am not sure to whom the quote can be credited, but regardless of who said it, it is a truism: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” Well, as the drowning prophet is sinking deeper into the Sea, he comes to his senses and cries out to God. Illust- In Lk 15 Jesus tells parable of the Prodigal Son. As the wonton son of a wealthy man is starving and longing to eat the food he is feeding swine, he hits rock bottom and comes to his senses and knows he must go home. Here Jonah is literally about to hit rock bottom and decides to call out to the Lord. Maybe you are hear today, you’re address is “Below rock bottom”. Call out to Christ!