Sermon # 21 - Cry Out To God Series

We read in Jonah 2:1-2, “From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God: When I was in trouble, LORD, I prayed to you, and you listened to me. From deep in the world of the dead, I begged for your help, and you answered my prayer.” (CEV)

Jonah called out to the Lord his God from inside the belly of the great fish that swallowed him up. It took three days and three nights before Jonah cried out to God for help. In the midst of all the calamities that surrounded him, Jonah called out to the Lord from the depths of the sea. Jonah was in a place of anguish, and he referred to himself as being in the deep, where there seemed no hope for Jonah, but just the thought of impending death. When Jonah cried out to the Lord in those times of utter despair, the Lord heard and answered his prayer.

Many of us may have encountered those dark times, when we don’t really know what to do. However, if we call out to the Lord as Jonah did, the Lord will certainly give heed to our prayers. As you read this message, I believe the Lord will speak to your specific need, and give you answers to many of your doubts and questions that linger in your heart and mind.

Call unto God in times of trouble

The reason that God answered Jonah when he called out to God is mentioned in the verse below. We read in Psalm 50:15, God says, "Call me when trouble comes. I will help you, and you will honor me." (ERV)

Whenever we are challenged with trials and difficulties, we should first and foremost call out to God. Generally, when we have hard situations, we tend to run to people, looking for help and comfort from them. The Lord on the other hand, beckons us to cry out to Him, and when we do so, He guarantees us that He will deliver us. When that happens, we will spontaneously acknowledge that God alone frees us from all our troubles, and this will become a wonderful testimony of God’s goodness in our lives, and to those around us. Through all of this God will receive the honor for His power and intervention in our lives. Let us decide that no matter how hard the circumstances are, we will call out to the Lord right away.

I will share some incidents from the bible that will help us understand how this promise of God worked for the people of God.

1. The cry to change the bitter waters

We read in Exodus 15:25, And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them; (ERV)

The Hebrew root for the word to ‘to cry out’ is ‘vai-yitz-‘ak’ which actually means to exclaim with a loud voice. If we read this part of the bible narrative we realize that the Israelites had just crossed the Red Sea. God protected the Israelites and paved a way for them through the Red Sea, while the same waters drowned the Egyptian army that came in pursuit of them. When the Israelites reached the other shore safe and secure, they were jubilant and praised God for His mighty hand of deliverance. They realized that God had set them free from the cruel bondage of the Egyptians, and had brought them to a place of total freedom. However, within three days of crossing over the Red Sea, the Israelites were confronted with the challenge of having no water to quench the thirst of the multitudes of people who had crossed over. Their situation was grim and it seemed that their future was at stake without having water which is the basic necessity for life. It was at this time that they suddenly sighted water and rushed to the water to quench their thirst, only to find that the water was bitter and undrinkable.

It was in this crisis situation that Moses called upon the Lord. The Lord showed Moses a tree, and asked him to cast it into the water. Without a doubt or a question, Moses did as God commanded him to, and when he cast the tree into the water, the bitter water became sweet and drinkable. The bitterness did not just vanish away, but the bitterness was transformed to sweetness.

I would like to compare the bitter water to the bitterness that people harbor in their hearts. Let us think of the many relationships that have soured over the years, including those in our families, work place and sometimes even in the church. No matter what our bitter experiences are, the Lord beckons us to call unto Him. This root of bitterness is a dangerous thing to harbor in our hearts. These bitter roots are subtly hidden inside of our hearts, and sometimes we may not even be aware of them, until some issue arises. God alone can change our bitterness to sweetness, because Jesus bore that cruel cross on our behalf. When Jesus hung on the cross, He experienced the torture, scorn, cruelty and intense pain that was unjustly meted out to Him. However, in the midst of it all, Jesus declared forgiveness to those who treated him most unfairly and ruthlessly. If we too want to be rid of the bitterness in our lives, the secret is to extend forgiveness to those who have offended us. Oftentimes, we find it extremely difficult to forgive those who have wronged us. There are others who say that they can forgive, but are unable to forget the hurts that were caused as they were deeply hurt.