God Answers Prayer, 13 October 2019
God Answers Prayer
Series—Jonah
Jonah 2:1-10
Series Big Idea: The prophet Jonah reveals God’s grace for all nations.
Big Idea: God invites us to pray prayers of repentance which can lead to redemption.
After running from God and His instructions to preach to the great city of Nineveh, Jonah finds himself miraculously in the belly of a fish (not an actual spaceship!).
The last verse of Jonah, chapter one says,
Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)
His story is similar to that of the prodigal son, a rebellious man who came to his senses and came home, so to speak, grateful for the kindness of the Father who brings him to repentance, sparing his life.
Imagine God gave you an assignment which you completely ignored; you fled! The next thing you know, you’re inside a fish. You can’t get any cell phone service. Your phone battery is dead, anyhow. You’ve tried to sleep, had an unusual craving for seafood, and felt left in the dark! We can only imagine what those three days were like, but Jonah, chapter two tells us…
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. (Jonah 2:1)
This doesn’t merely say Jonah prayed.
This doesn’t merely say Jonah prayed to the LORD.
It says Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
Is God your LORD? I bring up this word “LORD” often because its real meaning is so foreign to our culture, even our church culture. We like to use God for our purposes. Bless me, LORD! Help me, LORD! Heal me, LORD! The all-caps, by the way, indicate the original Hebrew usage of the sacred name of God, a word Jews refuse to pronounce but is probably something like Yahweh. Jonah prays to the Almighty, sacred, holy, awesome One.
When is the last time you prayed? What did you pray?
Our prayers are often more like wish lists for Santa than authentic conversations with our Creator. Right?
How big is your God?
How great is your God?
How awesome is your God?
G. Campbell Morgan said, “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God.”
How awesome is your God? If He’s just your genie in a bottle, your SOS, your sky fairy, He’s way too small.
If we could truly grasp Who it is we pray to, not only would our prayers be different, our lives would be different.
I must confess I’ve prayed some really pathetic prayers.
“God, please help everyone in the whole wide world.”
“God, bring peace to the world.”
“God, please feed all the starving children while we enjoy this feast.”
William Law said, “He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.”
He said:
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me. (Jonah 2:2-3)
He’s in a fish and he’s testifying to God’s answer! Is he grateful? Absolutely! His life was spared. He knows he sinned against God and now he repents. He’s not just admitting wrong, he’s turning away from his rebellion and moving toward God. Repent means to turn, to do a 180. Although the sailors physically hurled Jonah into the sea, he realizes it was God who was behind it, loving discipline.
How do you respond to discipline? Hebrews 12 tells us we can despise it and fight, resist it and face even greater discipline, or submit and grow in faith and love. God’s discipline is never to harm us, but rather to help us grow like an athlete’s muscles grow from training. The Father chastens/disciplines only His own children (Hebrews 12:8).
God invites us to pray prayers of repentance.
Jonah continues…
I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head. (Jonah 2:4-5)
This is a vivid description of his frightening, aquatic experience. Remember, he’s praying from the belly of a fish, and yet he is grateful. He worships God, the one from whom he was running days earlier. He knows God’s character and mercy.
One writer noted how up until now, Jonah continues to go down—down to the city of Joppa, down into the sides of the ship, and he continues…
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit. (Jonah 2:6)
He went down into the fish’s belly. Running from God is a sure way to go down! But now that Jonah has repented, he begins to look up…from the pit…to God.
“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple. (Jonah 2:7)
He looked up to God’s holy temple, following the instructions of 1 Kings 8:38-40. He knew and claimed God’s promises.
They say there are no atheists in fox holes or when a plane is about to crash. Why do we remember God when we’re facing death? Why don’t we remember God in the midst of life?
“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ ” (Jonah 2:8-9)
Jonah is back in the game. His faith is engaged. He knows his God. He recognizes the futility of idols. His near-death experience has transformed Jonah from a rebel to a worshipper.
What worthless idols are in your life? For Jonah, it was extreme patriotism and bigotry toward the Ninevites. John Calvin said Jonah’s sin was that he was “very inhuman” toward the people of Nineveh, refusing to see them as masterpieces created in the image of God with dignity, value, and worth. He makes vows to God, the only One who can save. He is no doubt recalling the psalms when he speaks of salvation:
The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. (Psalms 37:39)
But what worthless idols are in your life? What’s more important to you than loving God and loving people? Pleasure? Entertainment? Money? Power? Sex? Popularity?
There is no mention of the fish, the smell, the darkness, the discomfort, or even his own sin. He doesn’t ask for a housing upgrade, yet God obviously hears his prayer. In chapter one, God provided the fish. Chapter two ends by showing God’s activity again.
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:10)
Just for fun, I looked up this verse in several translations, most of which used the same verb to describe Jonah’s transport to the beach!
God invites us to pray prayers of repentance which can lead to redemption.
So What?
The moral of this story is…well, let’s go back to last week’s big idea:
Always obey God, even when you don’t feel like it!
Today’s big idea is
Prayer matters, no matter what you’ve done.
God spared Jonah’s life. If the story ended here, we’d see disobedience followed by prayer and God’s intervention.
We were created for relationship with God. That means God loves to hear our voice. I believe the most beautiful sound in the universe to God is your voice. When is the last time He heard it?
A few weeks ago, we talked about prayer in our study of the book of Colossians.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)
Prayer is more than talking to God.
Prayer is more than talking with God.
Prayer is being with God, which may sometimes involve silence, listening, stillness.
Are you ok with that? For some of us, slowing down and quieting down is not easy. Is anybody with me? I like to be busy, productive, and sometimes noisy…but it’s not ideal for relationships. I get annoyed when I’m talking with someone and they keep checking their phone…or even worse, start texting or talking as if I didn’t exist.
Prayer is being with God. It’s about building a relationship. We need to talk and listen…and always be fully present.
When you pray, begin with God. In his book The Rest of God, author Mark Buchanon writes,
“Are you in the midst of a situation where, as you pray, you find yourself putting the problem first? If so, you’re starting where you should end. You’re rehearsing the problem, making it seem larger than it is, when what you need to do is rehearse God’s greatness and bigness. Then the problem shrinks to its right portions.”
I love that! Start with God. Look what He has created. Remember how He has been faithful. Use the book of Psalms to guide you into praise and adoration of our awesome God so you know who you’re dealing with!
Recently I was burdened by a number of situations out of my control and I prayed, “Help, God!” Pausing to acknowledge WHO I was talking with—starting with God and His greatness—would’ve certainly given me greater peace and confidence.
I love that we can talk with God anytime, 24/7. We’re not a burden. We’re not an interruption. He wants us to pray. He invites us to pray.
Some of us don’t pray because we’re not sure God hears us. He does. Even from a fish!
Some of us don’t pray because we’re afraid of what God will say. He loves you. Really.
Some of us don’t pray because we feel unworthy. We are, but He still loves us.
It’s never too late to repent, to turn, to agree with God that you screwed up.
It’s never too early, either!
Take a moment to reflect upon your life. How did you get here?
Maybe you’ve made some wise choices and you’re enjoying the fruit of those decisions. Praise God. Thank Him for giving you wisdom, freedom, education, and opportunity.
Perhaps you’ve made some poor choices and you’re in the belly of a fish, so to speak. It’s dark. It’s smelly and cold. You really want out. Surrender to God. He hears you. No matter what you’ve done or who you are, He loves you and will forgive you if you trust Jesus, if you surrender your life to Jesus, if you make him your Savior and your LORD. You can begin by simply saying, “Jesus, I give you my life.” If you’ve been running, stop, repent, turn, and run to the God who created you and loves you more than you can imagine.
Waiting
In a matter of hours, Jonah’s prayers were heard and he went to the beach. Sometimes God’s response to our prayers takes longer…maybe days, months, even years. I don’t always understand His timing, but I know it’s perfect, because He is perfect. His ways are perfect.
There are some situations I’ve been praying about for years, but I refuse to quit…and I know He wants me to continue. Jesus was talking with his friends about prayer and said,
“…Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
God always answers the prayers of His children.
He might say yes. He might say no. He might say wait. Be he always answers.
Do you know God? Really? If not, you can begin today. Repent. Turn away from your selfish living and run to Jesus, the one who proved his love by giving his life on the cross.
If you do know God, you’ve been commissioned to help others know God. Faith is personal, but not private. Good news needs to be shared.
God wants nothing more than a relationship with us where we talk, where we listen, where we do life together. Does that describe your life?
One of the greatest thrills of knowing God is when we make a request and He responds. Today and every Sunday we invite you to come forward and receive prayer…for anything. God answers prayer, but first we must pray!
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series—Jonah
Jonah 2:1-10
Series Big Idea: The prophet Jonah reveals God’s grace for all nations.
Big Idea: God invites us to pray prayers of repentance which can lead to redemption.
After running from God and His instructions to preach to the great city of Nineveh, Jonah finds himself miraculously in the belly of a fish (not an actual spaceship!).
The last verse of Jonah, chapter one says,
Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)
His story is similar to that of the prodigal son, a rebellious man who came to his senses and came home, so to speak, grateful for the kindness of the Father who brings him to repentance, sparing his life.
Imagine God gave you an assignment which you completely ignored; you fled! The next thing you know, you’re inside a fish. You can’t get any cell phone service. Your phone battery is dead, anyhow. You’ve tried to sleep, had an unusual craving for seafood, and felt left in the dark! We can only imagine what those three days were like, but Jonah, chapter two tells us…
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. (Jonah 2:1)
This doesn’t merely say Jonah prayed.
This doesn’t merely say Jonah prayed to the LORD.
It says Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
Is God your LORD? I bring up this word “LORD” often because its real meaning is so foreign to our culture, even our church culture. We like to use God for our purposes. Bless me, LORD! Help me, LORD! Heal me, LORD! The all-caps, by the way, indicate the original Hebrew usage of the sacred name of God, a word Jews refuse to pronounce but is probably something like Yahweh. Jonah prays to the Almighty, sacred, holy, awesome One.
When is the last time you prayed? What did you pray?
Our prayers are often more like wish lists for Santa than authentic conversations with our Creator. Right?
How big is your God?
How great is your God?
How awesome is your God?
G. Campbell Morgan said, “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God.”
How awesome is your God? If He’s just your genie in a bottle, your SOS, your sky fairy, He’s way too small.
If we could truly grasp Who it is we pray to, not only would our prayers be different, our lives would be different.
I must confess I’ve prayed some really pathetic prayers.
“God, please help everyone in the whole wide world.”
“God, bring peace to the world.”
“God, please feed all the starving children while we enjoy this feast.”
William Law said, “He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.”
He said:
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me. (Jonah 2:2-3)
He’s in a fish and he’s testifying to God’s answer! Is he grateful? Absolutely! His life was spared. He knows he sinned against God and now he repents. He’s not just admitting wrong, he’s turning away from his rebellion and moving toward God. Repent means to turn, to do a 180. Although the sailors physically hurled Jonah into the sea, he realizes it was God who was behind it, loving discipline.
How do you respond to discipline? Hebrews 12 tells us we can despise it and fight, resist it and face even greater discipline, or submit and grow in faith and love. God’s discipline is never to harm us, but rather to help us grow like an athlete’s muscles grow from training. The Father chastens/disciplines only His own children (Hebrews 12:8).
God invites us to pray prayers of repentance.
Jonah continues…
I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head. (Jonah 2:4-5)
This is a vivid description of his frightening, aquatic experience. Remember, he’s praying from the belly of a fish, and yet he is grateful. He worships God, the one from whom he was running days earlier. He knows God’s character and mercy.
One writer noted how up until now, Jonah continues to go down—down to the city of Joppa, down into the sides of the ship, and he continues…
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit. (Jonah 2:6)
He went down into the fish’s belly. Running from God is a sure way to go down! But now that Jonah has repented, he begins to look up…from the pit…to God.
“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple. (Jonah 2:7)
He looked up to God’s holy temple, following the instructions of 1 Kings 8:38-40. He knew and claimed God’s promises.
They say there are no atheists in fox holes or when a plane is about to crash. Why do we remember God when we’re facing death? Why don’t we remember God in the midst of life?
“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ ” (Jonah 2:8-9)
Jonah is back in the game. His faith is engaged. He knows his God. He recognizes the futility of idols. His near-death experience has transformed Jonah from a rebel to a worshipper.
What worthless idols are in your life? For Jonah, it was extreme patriotism and bigotry toward the Ninevites. John Calvin said Jonah’s sin was that he was “very inhuman” toward the people of Nineveh, refusing to see them as masterpieces created in the image of God with dignity, value, and worth. He makes vows to God, the only One who can save. He is no doubt recalling the psalms when he speaks of salvation:
The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. (Psalms 37:39)
But what worthless idols are in your life? What’s more important to you than loving God and loving people? Pleasure? Entertainment? Money? Power? Sex? Popularity?
There is no mention of the fish, the smell, the darkness, the discomfort, or even his own sin. He doesn’t ask for a housing upgrade, yet God obviously hears his prayer. In chapter one, God provided the fish. Chapter two ends by showing God’s activity again.
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:10)
Just for fun, I looked up this verse in several translations, most of which used the same verb to describe Jonah’s transport to the beach!
God invites us to pray prayers of repentance which can lead to redemption.
So What?
The moral of this story is…well, let’s go back to last week’s big idea:
Always obey God, even when you don’t feel like it!
Today’s big idea is
Prayer matters, no matter what you’ve done.
God spared Jonah’s life. If the story ended here, we’d see disobedience followed by prayer and God’s intervention.
We were created for relationship with God. That means God loves to hear our voice. I believe the most beautiful sound in the universe to God is your voice. When is the last time He heard it?
A few weeks ago, we talked about prayer in our study of the book of Colossians.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)
Prayer is more than talking to God.
Prayer is more than talking with God.
Prayer is being with God, which may sometimes involve silence, listening, stillness.
Are you ok with that? For some of us, slowing down and quieting down is not easy. Is anybody with me? I like to be busy, productive, and sometimes noisy…but it’s not ideal for relationships. I get annoyed when I’m talking with someone and they keep checking their phone…or even worse, start texting or talking as if I didn’t exist.
Prayer is being with God. It’s about building a relationship. We need to talk and listen…and always be fully present.
When you pray, begin with God. In his book The Rest of God, author Mark Buchanon writes,
“Are you in the midst of a situation where, as you pray, you find yourself putting the problem first? If so, you’re starting where you should end. You’re rehearsing the problem, making it seem larger than it is, when what you need to do is rehearse God’s greatness and bigness. Then the problem shrinks to its right portions.”
I love that! Start with God. Look what He has created. Remember how He has been faithful. Use the book of Psalms to guide you into praise and adoration of our awesome God so you know who you’re dealing with!
Recently I was burdened by a number of situations out of my control and I prayed, “Help, God!” Pausing to acknowledge WHO I was talking with—starting with God and His greatness—would’ve certainly given me greater peace and confidence.
I love that we can talk with God anytime, 24/7. We’re not a burden. We’re not an interruption. He wants us to pray. He invites us to pray.
Some of us don’t pray because we’re not sure God hears us. He does. Even from a fish!
Some of us don’t pray because we’re afraid of what God will say. He loves you. Really.
Some of us don’t pray because we feel unworthy. We are, but He still loves us.
It’s never too late to repent, to turn, to agree with God that you screwed up.
It’s never too early, either!
Take a moment to reflect upon your life. How did you get here?
Maybe you’ve made some wise choices and you’re enjoying the fruit of those decisions. Praise God. Thank Him for giving you wisdom, freedom, education, and opportunity.
Perhaps you’ve made some poor choices and you’re in the belly of a fish, so to speak. It’s dark. It’s smelly and cold. You really want out. Surrender to God. He hears you. No matter what you’ve done or who you are, He loves you and will forgive you if you trust Jesus, if you surrender your life to Jesus, if you make him your Savior and your LORD. You can begin by simply saying, “Jesus, I give you my life.” If you’ve been running, stop, repent, turn, and run to the God who created you and loves you more than you can imagine.
Waiting
In a matter of hours, Jonah’s prayers were heard and he went to the beach. Sometimes God’s response to our prayers takes longer…maybe days, months, even years. I don’t always understand His timing, but I know it’s perfect, because He is perfect. His ways are perfect.
There are some situations I’ve been praying about for years, but I refuse to quit…and I know He wants me to continue. Jesus was talking with his friends about prayer and said,
“…Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
God always answers the prayers of His children.
He might say yes. He might say no. He might say wait. Be he always answers.
Do you know God? Really? If not, you can begin today. Repent. Turn away from your selfish living and run to Jesus, the one who proved his love by giving his life on the cross.
If you do know God, you’ve been commissioned to help others know God. Faith is personal, but not private. Good news needs to be shared.
God wants nothing more than a relationship with us where we talk, where we listen, where we do life together. Does that describe your life?
One of the greatest thrills of knowing God is when we make a request and He responds. Today and every Sunday we invite you to come forward and receive prayer…for anything. God answers prayer, but first we must pray!