I would like for you to consider for a moment if God appeared to you and said, “The people of Kabul Afghanistan are ready to hear about my Son Jesus and I want you to be the messenger to go speak of His resurrection and offer of grace.” Would you go? Would you go, knowing, that it’s against the law to openly preach about the gospel of Jesus in Afghanistan? Would you go, knowing, that if you did you would probably be imprisoned or more likely killed for doing so? There are preachers for the good news of Jesus in the Middle East right now, even in Afghanistan, but, they have to be very careful about how they present the message. I’m pretty sure I would pull a Jonah, too, if God told me to go preach the good news of Jesus in the streets of Kabul.
God told Jonah to go to a foreign city and tell them to “announce my judgment against Nineveh because I have seen how wicked its people are.” Jonah 1:2
God had never directed a prophet to do this in a foreign city before. Jonah was the first foreign missionary. Nineveh was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. It was the nerve center and capital of the Assyrian empire. For most of its existence Assyria was a military society and success was measured by conquest. And the Assyrians had a horrific reputation of being especially brutal to those they conquered. The Assyrian kings were the first to adopt a policy of replacing citizens of cities they conquered with their own. They would take a city find the prominent citizens seize their assets then either kill them or make them slaves, then they would take their own citizens and reward them with the assets they took. Basically creating a new demographic, a fresh conquered city would be mostly Assyrian in a matter of months. Does this sound familiar? The Israelites did the same thing when they conquered the cities of the Promised Land, although, God told them to do something different. The Israelites were commanded by God to totally destroy all assets and people in the land God gave them, but, they didn’t. They more or less adopted an Assyrian tradition. I wonder if the Assyrians felt like Israel stole their M.O.
As Israel grew especially under David and Solomon empires like Assyria got nervous. It’s never a good thing for a strong militaristic nation to be nervous. These ancient empires were designed to conquer and they fed on the fear of their reputation. Most city states offered to be vassals, to provide some kind of tribute to the Assyrian king so they could live in relative peace. There were constant clashes on the borders of Israel and Assyria and the city of Damascus and other cities changed hands many times as a result. In 2 Kings 13:22-25 we have an example of this ongoing conflict. But what does all of this have to do with Jonah? I think it’s important to understand the historical narrative, although this is brief and incomplete because we don’t have time to engage in a full history lesson of this era, and I’m thinking most of this information is starting to put people to sleep anyway. It is important to understand why Jonah disobeyed God at first. Why did Jonah run?
Most of us learned in Sunday School that Jonah ran because he was scared. We understand fear. We relate to fear. If God directed me to Kabul fear would be my primary and overwhelming emotion. So we think Jonah was afraid. But that wasn’t why Jonah ran from his mission. Jonah was actually a very brave guy. When the ship was in the storm and every career sailor on board was scared out of their minds, you know what Jonah was doing? Sleeping. He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t a man of fear. He ran because he didn’t want Nineveh to be saved. He wanted Nineveh burned to the ground. Every red blooded patriotic Israelite hated Assyrians. It wasn’t that Jonah felt fear about preaching to the folks in Nineveh, he would’ve felt more like a traitor to his country. This is why a very angry Jonah says, “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord!” Jonah 4:2
He hated the people that he preached to. Now maybe I should put my original question in a different context. What if God told me to go to Libya and preach the message of Jesus to those who just bombed the Embassy and killed my fellow American J. Christopher Stevens and 3 others? Maybe now in this context I understand Jonah’s feelings a little better. Did he have relatives who were killed by Assyrians or perhaps family who were taken into slavery or brutally tortured by them?
By now you may be looking at your watch and taking another look at the topic for this morning in the worship order. “What is prayer about?” Well, we are going to take a look at that question this morning, but, we are going to let Jonah answer it for us. Before I could direct you to Jonah, though, I needed to lay out some groundwork.
Jesus brought up Jonah. “One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.” Matthew 12:38-41
If you google Jonah you’ll find two basic theological positions. One, Jonah is not a historical book but more of an allegory or a parable. Or, two, Jonah is a historical book stating facts that occurred to a human being. It’s easy to understand why there would be many theological minds who would want to distance themselves from the facts of Jonah. Who can believe that a human being can live in the belly of a fish for three days? This is one fact that atheists make a lot of fun of. The definition of an atheist is the absence of miracles. So to a lot of people it just seems ridiculous to assume this is a story based on fact. You might come to a similar conclusion. But the book of Jonah tells us that God prepared a really big fish. Jonah 1:17.
We don’t know what that fish looked like. We don’t know if God just created a different fish for this one time use, or if he took an already existing one and equipped it for the purpose of keeping Jonah for three days. What we do know is that Jesus said it happened. I think Jesus picked this one story for confirmation knowing that it would be one of the most contested miracles in the Bible. Jesus said it happened.
This is all great you may be thinking but we still haven’t got to what prayer is all about. Can we just get to that? I’m starting to get hungry. I promise we will, but, I have to bring up Jesus one more time.
What do we know about Jonah. He was a fairly brave prophet of God who was told to go preach to his enemies. He didn’t want to do that so he ran. While on the run God called up a storm so powerful that all the sailors on the ship thought they were going to die. They discovered that Jonah was running from his God and Jonah told them to toss him overboard. God had prepared a fish for the purpose of taking Jonah from the water and throwing him up on land. During the three days Jonah was in the fish he had some time to think and pray.
Jesus said, “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.” Matthew 5:43-47
I wonder if Jesus thought of Jonah when he said this. I find it particularly interesting that Jesus says to pray for those who persecute you. What is prayer all about?
While Jonah is in the fish he prays, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me! You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” Jonah 2:1-10
First let's just get this straight. If it were me swallowed by a fish in the middle of the worst storm I've ever seen in my life, I don't know about you but I'm screaming my head off. I'm screaming, "HELP!" AAAAAAAAAAGH...I'M GOING TO DIE...HELP ME GOD! Or something along those lines. Jonah was way more composed than I would've been. Think Jr. High girl steps on a snake when she wakes up in the morning, that would be me.
I'm impressed with Jonah's composure here. So let’s just ask Jonah what prayer is all about.
Prayer is about getting help. Not the kind of help you can get from a friend or family, but, supernatural kind of help. Jonah begins, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble.” The key to the kind of help Jonah is talking about is the last phrase of his prayer, “for my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” In our discussion last week on why prayer matters we talked about how prayer is an awesome power that often goes untapped in our lives simply because we refuse to pray. We find this recurring theme about prayer throughout the Bible.
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Or this one “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:13-16
Some argue that this Scripture says that if someone is sick and they are prayed over and they are not healed it’s because they lack faith. After all it says, “such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick.” This Scripture is talking about healing from sin. Jesus said He was the Great Physician. He said He came to heal sinners. Jesus didn’t physically heal everyone on earth, but, he gave the opportunity for everyone who believes in Him to experience eternal healing from their sinful nature and that is what this verse is talking about. Here are the last two lines from James 5.
“My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.” James 5:19-20
This is what prayer is about. We pray to receive this kind of supernatural help especially in times of trouble and great stress.
I’m not suggesting that it’s wrong to pray for stuff we need or for healing when we’re sick. Jesus said, “Give us today our daily bread.” But Jesus also said it’s not healthy to stress about our needs, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:24-34
Prayer is not an antidote to worry. Have you ever prayed about a stressful situation just to discover that you’re still worried about it? Faith is the antidote to worry. Prayer is about asking God for the supernatural.
Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.” The Kingdom of God is supernatural. It’s not of this earth. Some might say that we are the Kingdom of God and that’s true, but, it’s better to say that our souls are. What is eternal in us make up the Kingdom of God. Jesus saves our souls, not our bodies.
Jonah wasn’t worried about dying. He actually asked God to take his life on several occasions in 4 chapters. Jonah’s problem was that he was more focused on his hatred for the Assyrians than on God’s Kingdom work. Interestingly his focus changes when he prays, but his heart didn't. He still hated the Assyrians. Prayer didn’t change his human nature. Jonah was ticked off that God healed Nineveh from their sins. Prayer didn’t change Jonah, but, prayer helped him focus on the mission of God. If Jonah were alive today he would have the message of Jesus rocking in his ears that it's the expectation of God to love his enemies.
This is what prayer is all about. A healthy prayer helps us to stop living in our world with our sinful nature and selfish desires and through praise and adoration we tap into the eternal. We experience the supernatural presence of God through prayer. We can conclude as Jonah, “our salvation comes from the Lord alone.” There isn’t anything more supernatural than God forgiving us our sins. Prayer helps us share this message with the world around us, even in parts of the world where it’s illegal or dangerous for us to do so. What would you consider the more important and significant miracle that Jonah was saved from drowning in a storm by surviving in the belly of a fish God prepared for such a purpose or that a human Jesus was born to a virgin girl lived a perfect life without even one sin was executed and then three days later he raised himself from the dead. Both are fantastic miracles, but, I would choose Jesus as the most significant miracle of all time. This power of the resurrection is the supernatural event we have access to. "This message of Jesus is foolishness to those who deny miracles, but for those of us who believe it's the power of God himself." 1 Corinthians 1:18
Last week we discussed why prayer matters. Prayer matters because it helps us to rely on God’s mercy. Prayer matters because it helps us to confess sin and ask for mercy. Prayer matters because it helps us to see God for who He is. God. And prayer matters because we honor God when we pray.
Next week we’re going to take a look at the life of Jesus to wrap our series on prayer. Did you know that how we pray is important, too? We’re going to let Jesus define that for us.
