FERVENT PRAYER FROM THE BELL OF A FISH
We come the theme -- Character’s that build Character.
We will park in Jonah 2 and discover a desperate prayer from a desperate Preacher who was cast into the sea and swallowed by a big fish.
Jonah 1:17 unequivocally states, “7 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The Lord appointed and prepared this fish to catch and swallow Jonah alive. IN the normal course of human events, men catch fish – Here we have a fish catching a man.
This is all orchestrated all be the hand of God. It was a divine miracle God saw to it that the fish appeared at just the right moment in just the right place, with just the right appetite to swallow Jonah.
SO Jonah goes from a nice nap on a boat headed for Spain to being tossed in a treacherous sea and spends three days in the occupancy of a fish’s belly.
Can you imagine what it was like INSIDE THAT FISH? I have a vivid imagination.
It’s dark, you can’t move around very much, the fish is swimming constantly, salt water washes over you, seaweed wraps around your body, and unidentified objects knock against you.
The big fish eats other fish and you have the seafood of whatever the fish has eaten floating all around you.
One other thing. Can you imagine how much it must has smelt. The inside of a fish really stinks. It’s greasy, slippery, slimy and the fish is trying to digest you.
This was not on his itinerary. This was not on his to do list on his way to Tarshish.
The worst preacher or missionary that has ever lived finds himself in a life or death circumstance. Notice how Jonah feels.
Jonah 2:1 says, “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
Jonah cries to God for help. “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help,
It is amazing how prayer becomes significant to us when we are in trouble.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.
Jonah is a desperate man praying a desperate prayer.
Charles Swindoll recounts the story of an airliner in 1968 bound for New York that began its descent when the pilot realized the landing gear had refused to engage.
The Pilot worked the controls back and forth, trying again and again to unlock the landing gear but had no success.
He then asked the control tower for instructions as he circled the airport.
Responding to the crisis, airport personnel sprayed the runway with foam as fire trucks and other emergency vehicles moved into position. Disaster was only minutes away.
The passengers, meanwhile were told to place their heads between their knees and grab their ankles just before impact. It was one of those “I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-to-me” experiences that led to many tears and even a few screams of despair in the cabin.
The landing was only a few seconds away when suddenly the pilot announced over the intercom: We are beginning our final descent.
At this moment, in accordance with International Aviation Codes established in Geneva, it is my obligation to inform you that if you believe in God you should COMMENCE PRAYER
Being thrust three days in the belly of the fish is not a safe place to LIVE, but it is a desperate place to pray.
Here is the problem: As long as we are in our boats headed to pursue our own agenda rather than the plans of God -desperate praying takes a back seat.
God intends for Christians to use prayer as a first response not a last resort.
Don’t wait until you get thrown from the boat or until the plane is going down to bow your head and fold your hands and cry out to God.
Jesus said my house shall be called a house of Prayer!
ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR:
When the storm beat against the boat and the crew knew their life’s were at stake, Jonah acknowledged he was the culprit and he was responsible.
You cannot change what you do not acknowledge
Satan is crafty and cunning. He will convince us that we are not really that bad. After all, I am not as bad as this person over there. After all, I am not committing the five time sins?
It does not matter what it is, whatever sin you are hiding, until you get honest and quit lying to yourself, you will continue to life you life as an affront to God.
The greatest lies we tell our the ones we tell ourselves.
It’s almost as if it’s not a sin to lie anymore. Perhaps it is a sign of postmodern relativism that we have come to accept that lying isn’t wrong. Yet, God says in his 10 commandants -Thou shalt not lie.
Or perhaps lying is just a fulfillment of Romans 3:13, “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
You can’t change what you will not acknowledge. You can’t help a liar
You can help anyone struggling with any sort of sin as long as they tell the truth. But you can’t help a liar because you can’t trust anything he says.
The situation is compounded by the fact that when most of us get caught, we confess as little as possible. We are primarily embarrassed --- “I’m sorry I got caught.”
True repentance always involves coming clean, and coming clean means owning up to the whole pattern of wrongdoing.
2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Three Hard Words I am wrong: I have Sinned.
Proverbs 28:13 declares that “he who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." The Bible also says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God desires “truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6) or as Eugene Peterson puts it, “truth from the inside out.”
It is very hard for most of us to come to this place of total honesty with God and with others. Most of us face a continual battle to be transparent in all our dealings.
God desires “truth from the inside out.”
We would rather do anything, including lying, to keep from saying those words. We’ll make excuses, we’ll rationalize, we’ll justify, we’ll twist the facts, we’ll blame others, and we’ll say, “It’s not my fault” or “She told me to do it"or” So what? Everyone else is doing it."
The excuses never seem to end.
Let’s lay down a marker here at the start of this message. It’s a good mark of spiritual health if it is becoming easier for you to say, “I was wrong.” That’s a good sign because it means you are taking responsibility for your own actions.
Take a Bible plus a notebook and a pen and find a quiet place. Then pray this simple prayer: “Lord, show me the truth about myself.” PRAY THAT PRAYER FOR ONE WEEK.
“Lord, show me the truth about myself.”
Get serious about Changing your life!
• God doesn’t take sin in stride.
• He won’t say “Boys will be boys.”
• He is passionate for holiness.
• He loves us too much to let us go on in sin forever.
That’s a truth Jonah found out the hard way.
CONSIDER WITH ME A MANS FERVENT PRAYER FROM THE BELLY OF A FISH.
Jonah 2:1 says, “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God."
I.FIRST, HE CRIES TO GOD FOR HELP.
In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (Jonah 2;2).
• No boasting here. He knows that if God doesn’t save him, he will never get out of the great fish alive.
II. HE CONFESSES THAT GOD PUT HIM WHERE HE IS.
“You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the
seas" (Jonah 1:3).
• Jonah is not in the blame game. He doesn’t blame the sailors for throwing him into the sea. He does blame the storm. He does not even blame the lousy great fish.
• Jonah sees clearly that is plight is a direct result of his disobedience and he is facing the discipline of the Lord of the universe.
• Jonah bows before God and says, “I’m here because you put me here." You are spiritually making strides when you stop blaming others for your problems. Jonah knows he must answer to the Lord alone.
III. THERE IS NO WAY OUT UNLESS THE LORD DELIVERS HIM.
“The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head” (Jonah 2:5).
He is going to die in the great fish. There’s no way out unless the Lord brings him out. Apart from God, he’s Sunday lunch for the big fish and there’s nothing he can do about it.
It was the power of God that put Jonah in the fish and it will take the power of God to get him out.
IV. JONAH REMEMBERS THE LORD IS HIS ONLY HOPE.
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you,
Lord” (v. 7).
Finally Jonah is acting like a true believer. After all the running away, after all the disobedience, after all the self
centered living, God has Jonah’s undivided attention.
V. JONAH VOWS TO SERVE THE LORD.
Jonah 1:9 “But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good"
You can see the spiritual progress he’s making.
• First, he acknowledges that God put him where he is.
• Second, he accepts God’s discipline.
• Third, he thinks he’s going to die without Gods help.
• Fourth, he finally remembers the Lord. Then and only then does he vow to serve the Lord.
He comes to the great conclusion in verse 10: “Salvation is of the Lord."
This is the hardest lesson for any of us to learn. Salvation starts with God and it ends with God.
Some of us struggle a lifetime to learn that. Most of us have to learn it over and over again. Some people never learn it at all.
But there is no salvation, no deliverance, and no Hope, no getting better until we realize that if God doesn’t save us, we will never be saved.
That’s the advantage of being in the belly of a great fish. Most of us would probably improve spiritually if we spent a few days in the belly of a big fish.
In the terrifying darkness inside the fish, Jonah realized the folly of fighting against God. He cries out and says, SALVATION IS OFF THE LORD.
Salvation starts with God and it ends with God.
A man dies and goes to heaven.
St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and says, "Here's how it works. You need 1000 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 1000 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, and loved her deep in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St.Peter, "that's worth two points!"
"Only two points?" the man says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithes and service."
"Terrific!" says St.Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!! I started a soup kitchen in my city and also worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," St.Peter says.
"Two points!?!!" Exasperated, the man cries, "At this rate, the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God."
'Bingo! Now you can come in!' St Peter lets the man inside heaven
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
SALVATION IS OF THE LORD.
Let’s wrap up the message with a few observations about Jonah’s journey:
1. ALTHOUGH HE WAS A PREACHER, IT HAD BEEN A
LONG TIME SINCE HE HAD TALKED HONESTy WITH GOD.
It’s amazing and frightening how easy it is for church people to go through life without talking to God. Why do you think Jonah prayed in the great fish?
He reached the END OF HIS ROPE. Prayer became his last resort. He was panicked, and flat on his face
It’s a good thing to be desperate if desperation turns your heart to the Lord. I can imagine few things worse than being in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights.
• But it is better to be in the fish and talking to God than on dry land running from God.
• The reason you pray inside the great fish because if God doesn’t do something, you will die there.
But notice this. It’s not that the belly of a fish is inherently more dangerous than living in a luxury suite in a high-rise hotel.
You can get into trouble anywhere. An earthquake can strike, a tornado can come, a car can veer off the road, catastrophe can strike at any moment.
You can be singing a tune one moment and have a stroke the next. It happens every day.
No one is immune to trouble, and there is nowhere on earth where you are truly safe from heartbreak, sadness, disease, danger and death.
2.GOD HAD TO STOP JONAH IN HIS TRACKS IN ORDER TO GET HIS ATTENTION.
? Notice the progression.
o In chapter 1 Jonah disobedience and running from God
o In chapter 2 Jonah prays and God gets a listening ear.
Often our greatest problem is slowing down enough to hear God’s voice.
3.GOD DELIGHTS TO DELIVER HIS PEOPLE FROM IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS.
Being trapped inside a great fish for three days and three nights is an impossible situation.
Even after Jonah gets right with God, he’s still inside the fish. He’ll never get out on his own.
So God works an amazing deliverance. Look at verse 11 of Jonah 2: The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
The same Lord who appointed the fish to catch him now tells the fish to let him go.
Jonah took a ride on the “regurgitron.” One moment he’s wedged in the belly of the fish, the next he’s flying through the air, and the next he lands on the shore covered with the aftermath well never mind
All of it meant to teach him and us that SALVATION IS OF THE LORD.
THE PRODICAL SON
Jesus told a parable -- that fits with the story of Jonah. A young man came to his father and said, “Give me my share of the inheritance.” So the father did, and the young man took the money, left his family, and journeyed into the far country where he spent his money on wild living. One translation calls it “riotous living.” He spent it all on wine, women and whatever else you can think of.
IT ALL WORKED OUT UNTIL THE FAMINE CAME.
By the way, you can mark it down. The famine always comes sooner or later. You can have your fun and spend your money and live any way you like. You can throw off all restraint. But the FAMINE COMES EVENTUALLY.
When the money runs out, you find out that your so-called friends won’t return your phone calls. Oh, they were happy to party with you when you had cash in your pocket and a credit card to cover everything else. But when you tap out, your party buddies suddenly disappear.
Now he’s feeding the pigs, hoping to catch a little from the slop bucket. The Bible says when the prodigal son came to his senses, he said to himself,
“Back home my father’s servants have plenty to eat. I will arise and go to my father and say, ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Make me one of your hired hands.”
He began the long, slow, difficult journey home.
Ashamed and embarrassed of what he had done.
Wondering what his father would do.
He needn’t have worried. Jesus said that the father saw his son a long way off. That means he had been waiting, waiting, waiting for his son to come home.
• Don’t you know the folks in the village made fun of him. “Come on in, old man. That son of yours is gone forever. Don’t waste any more time on him. Give it up.”
• But he wouldn’t give up. The father said, “I will not give up. Day after day, he waited, watching and hoping for a sign his son was coming home.
One day he saw it. A tiny speck on the horizon.
The father ran to meet his son while he was still far away.
He didn’t say, “Let him come all the way and then I’ll talk to him.”
He ran after him.He couldn’t wait to see his son again.
After his father had hugged and kissed him, the son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” That was the speech he had rehearsed
The father said, “Go get the sandals. Go find my best robe. Get the golden ring. Kill the fatted calf. My son who was lost has been found. My son who was far away has come home. Let’s get the party started.
• The Father stands waiting for his prodigal sons and daughters to come back home. And he doesn’t say, “Clean yourself up first.” He just says, “COME ON HOME. We can’t wait to see you again.”
He doesn’t say, “PROVE THAT YOU ARE WORTHY,” because no one is worthy of the Father’s love.
• He just says, “If you are tired of living in the far country, if you’re tired of running away, if you’re ready to come home, the light is on and the door is always open to you.”
You know what’s the hardest part about coming home? It’s that first step. Oh, how hard it is to take that first step back home to God.
Prodigals are scared to take that first step because they are afraid of what awaits them on the other end of the journey.
• What if there is no one to meet them?
• What if no one is glad to see them?
• What if they are greeted with angry words?
They don’t understand that Jesus has paved the way home in his own blood.
His death is so great and his resurrection so complete that nothing can be added to the value of what Christ did for us 2000 years ago.
That’s why when Jesus himself spoke about this, he called his own resurrection the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39-40). As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, even so Jesus was in the heart of the earth.
• As Jonah came out of the fish, even so Jesus came out of the realm of death.
The story of Jonah points us to Jesus, and the story of Jesus tells us how far God will go in behalf of guilty sinners.
He sent his Son to the lowest place on earth, to the bloody cross of Calvary, the emblem of suffering and shame. And out of that shame he fashioned our salvation.
Now the door to heaven has been thrown wide open, the light is on and now all the reluctant Jonahs of the world can find their way home to God. That is why we sing “
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace
