Sermon

Running to God in Prayer (Part 2)

August 10, 2019 Pickens First Baptist Church

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗

One of the most unbelievable and unbelieved stories in the whole Bible is the story of Jonah.
Jonah being swallowed by a big fish and living to tell about it.
A little girl discovered that her second grade teacher didn't believe this story.
She found it out the day they were studying about whales in school.
The little girl asked her teacher if she had ever heard the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale.
The teacher didn't answer the question, but she did say it would be difficult.
She said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because the whale's throat was too small.
Well, the girl responded matter-of-factly that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
The teacher was obviously irritated at her keeping on and repeated her statement that a whale could not swallow a human.
It was physically impossible.
Well, the little girl was not going to be silent.
So she said, when I get to heaven, I'll ask Jonah.
The teacher came back, what if Jonah doesn't go to heaven?
What if Jonah went to hell?
The little girl replied, well, then you can ask him.
I pointed out last week that the book of Jonah makes no attempt to convince skeptics like that teacher.
It just simply tells the story about God's miraculous and gracious intervention to save Jonah.
But we do have a very convincing reason to believe that what happened to Jonah really took place.
Jesus believed it.
And Jesus even used this story to teach about his own death and resurrection.
I pointed it out last week, but it's important for us to see.
This is evidence for the reality of what we're reading in Jonah.
Look at it again.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.
But he, Jesus, answered them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign,
but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish,
so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus is telling us it happened.
And it is an example, a type really, Jonah is, of what's going to happen to him.
Let's look at chapter 2 this morning and see what we can learn from Jonah's experience
of running to God in prayer.
Read it with me.
It actually begins in 1.17.
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah,
and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
and from this point to the end of chapter, or verse 9, this is a psalm.
It's written in the form of poetry.
In all likelihood, it's very obvious in your Bible.
It's laid out that way.
Verse 2 is really sort of an introduction and summary of his prayer.
He says,
I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
Beginning in verse 3, Jonah sort of rehearses his crisis.
He goes over what happened to him in his psalm in poetic form.
Look at it.
For you cast me into the deep, to the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me.
All your waves and your billows passed over me.
Then I said, I am driven away from your sight, yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.
The waters closed in over me to take my life.
The deep surrounded me.
Weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.
Now he moves into God's rescue.
Yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you and to your holy temple.
The last part of the psalm is really a prayer of thanksgiving and commitment.
Verse 8.
Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
And that's the end of the psalm.
The prose picks back up in verse 10.
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
We looked at the first major point of this message last week.
And I want to look at it today.
A little bit of what we saw last week, and we're going to add a little bit more.
God can put us in a position where all we can do is pray.
When you read Jonah 1 and 2, and you try to summarize what is happening in chapter 2,
God can put us in a position where all we can do is pray.
From the beginning of chapter 1, Jonah has been running away from God.
Running away from God's call to go to Nineveh and preach to a wicked people that Jonah didn't like,
and he didn't want to be saved.
He did not want them to turn to God.
So he wasn't going to go and preach.
Several commentators point out how much the word down is used to describe Jonah's rebellious flight away from God
and away from doing God's will.
Think about it.
He went down to Joppa, down into a ship, down into the depths of the ship.
But that's not the end of Jonah's descent, is it?
He went further down, what we've been reading now, into the depths of the ocean.
Now what we're reading about Jonah is an extreme example.
I mean, how many people do you know have disobeyed God and been swallowed by a fish?
Not many, are there?
So it's an extreme example, but it is a real example of what happens to anyone
who rebels against God and just refuses to do God's will.
A writer by the name of O. Palmer Robertson, I think he does a good job of explaining this.
Look at it.
The sinner goes down.
He begins the descent by his own acts of folly, foolishness.
He tries to run from the will of God and he trips on his own dangling shoelaces.
It is just a fact.
Nothing can be in its right order when you are living in rebellion against the will of God.
The circumstances of life will bring you down.
Your own inner spirit will bring you down.
The hand of the Lord will bring you down.
I think he is profound in what he says here.
Nothing can be right in your life when you're not right with God.
When you are deliberately disobeying something that he's made clear to you,
nothing will be right.
Your world will not be right.
And sooner or later, especially if you are a child of God,
and you're rebelling against him,
sooner or later he's going to have enough.
And God, as Robertson said,
the hand of the Lord will bring you down.
I want to say it again.
What God did to Jonah was unique.
But God does have many ways of getting our attention
and putting us in a position where we are willing to turn to him
and start obeying him.
He can do things like,
he can get our attention and work this way in a family crisis,
a health scare,
financial difficulties.
After I preached this this morning,
one of our members,
Mike Rushton,
reminded me,
God can break your back
to get your attention
and call you to himself.
Mike gave his testimony here,
what,
three, four, five years ago,
about how he didn't have any use for God.
He didn't have any use for people
who wanted to talk to him about God.
At that time in his life,
he was a logger.
And one day,
he cut a tree and it fell wrong,
and it fell on him,
and it broke his back,
and he wound up in the hospital.
And he told me,
after the service this morning,
and feel free to share it,
God has ways
of saying enough.
God can put us in a position
where all we can do
is look up,
he said,
from a hospital bed.
And God used that,
worked through that
to save him
and change his life.
God knows
the best way
to get
each one of our
attentions
and turn our hearts
toward him.
See, God knows you.
God knows me.
He knows the kinds of things
that we care about,
we're interested in,
things that bother us.
And so,
if necessary,
he will intervene
in our lives,
where we live,
to do whatever it takes
to call us
to himself,
to put us on a path
where we are
willing to obey him
about whatever it is
he is
working on us
and calling us to do.
If you're in a situation
like that right now,
I want you to understand
that God does not
take pleasure
in putting such pressure
on his children.
I do not think
that God
was sitting in heaven
looking down
at Jonah
and laughed
as they picked him up
and threw him overboard.
God didn't think
it was funny
as Jonah struggled
for a minute
or two
or three
and then started
sinking to the bottom
of the ocean.
Not at all.
Jonah was God's man.
God loved Jonah.
But God loved him
enough to discipline him
just like God
loves us enough
to discipline us
severely
if necessary
to put us
in a position
where we are
willing
and ready
to stop
disobeying him
and come back
to him
in confession,
in repentance,
in renewed commitment.
That's what God
did to Jonah.
He brought Jonah
to the point
where he was
willing,
wanted to pray
and God
was ready
to respond
to Jonah's prayer
to Jonah
in grace,
in mercy,
not giving him
what he deserved.
What we see
in chapter 2
is that we can
never run
too far
for God
to hear our prayer
of desperation.
Look again
at verse 2.
He says,
I called out
to the Lord
out of my distress
and he answered me.
Out of the belly
of Sheol,
the place
of the dead,
I cried
and you heard
my voice.
What I want us
to do now
is I want us
to look at
Jonah's
prayer
of desperation,
the big picture
approach.
Next week
we'll look at it
in more detail
and finish it up.
But let's look now
at point number 2.
God is ready
and able
to forgive
and restore
his rebellious people
who turn to him
in desperate
prayer.
Now if you
read this,
we've just read it,
some of you
are familiar with it,
this is an example
of a prayer
of someone
who is very
desperate.
And it does show us
that God
is ready
and able
to forgive us,
forgive you
and me.
Whenever we
have rebelled,
whenever we have
just said no
to him,
I'll not do it.
That's what
Jonah was doing.
But we've got
to be serious
about coming
back to God.
Let's look.
A desperate prayer
is a prayer
of a desperate
person.
Throughout chapter 1,
Jonah is
intentionally
disobeying God.
I want you
to think.
Jonah told
those sailors
to throw him
overboard
in order
to stop
the storm.
Jonah was
running from God.
He got on a ship.
God sent a storm.
He was not
going to allow
Jonah to get
away.
Jonah knew
the storm
is because
of me,
my rebellion,
my disobedience.
Jonah knew
if I'll just
give it up,
if I'll just
admit
my sin,
my rebellion,
repent now.
The storm
will stop.
I can go
back to
Joppa.
They'll be glad
to take me
back if the storm
stops and I
explain all this
to them.
But Jonah
wasn't willing
to do that.
Jonah
was willing
to die
rather than
repent.
And so
that's why
he told the
sailors to
throw him
overboard.
Jonah
thought
he would
rather die
than obey
God
until
he was
knocking on
death's
door.
Jonah
was ready
to be thrown
overboard,
but somewhere
along the line,
maybe when the
sailors jerked
him up
and he knew
this was going
to happen,
maybe when he
hit the water
or maybe when he
started to sink,
but somewhere
along the line,
Jonah changed
his mind and
thought,
I don't want
to die.
I would
rather obey
God than
drown in
this ocean.
Leslie Allen,
the commentator,
describes what
God was doing
to Jonah
during this
time.
Look at it.
Jonah's
self-willed
flight from
God's presence
in chapter
one had
been ratified
by God's
so be it
in banishment
from life.
The alternative
to saying
to God,
thy will
be done,
is to hear
him say
eventually,
your will
be done.
The awful
significance
of being
rejected by
God had
dawned on
him.
You see,
the whole story
of Jonah
up to this
point in
chapter two,
he knows
what God
wants him
to do.
And he's
just not
willing to
do it.
He knows
what God's
will is,
but it's
like Jonah
saying
throughout
chapter one,
I'm not
going to
do God's
will.
I'm going
to do
my will.
Well,
in chapter
two,
God says
to Jonah,
do it.
You want
things your
way instead
of my
way?
You've
got it.
And so
he was
going to
die.
He was
going to
drown in
the ocean
because he
was not
willing to
submit to
God's
will.
You know,
until he
was thrown
into the
ocean and
thought he
was going
to drown,
all he
was concerned
about was
getting away
from the
presence of
the Lord.
He didn't
want to have
anything to
do with
God.
Look back
in chapter
one,
verse
three.
But Jonah
arose to
flee to
Tarshish from
the presence
of the Lord.
Verse
ten,
for the men
knew that he
was fleeing
from the
presence of
the Lord
because he
had told
them.
When Jonah
is thrown
overboard and
sinks to the
bottom of the
ocean,
God is giving
Jonah what
he asked
for.
Jonah began
to experience
the consequences
of running
from the
presence of
the Lord.
But it
didn't take
him long to
realize how
foolish he
was.
And that's
when he
became desperate
for God.
That's when he
became so
desperate they
started crying
out to God
in prayer.
How would
you describe
yourself right
now,
spiritually
speaking?
Are you
running from
the presence
of the Lord
because you
don't want to
do his will
about something
he has made
clear to you,
maybe in his
word, maybe
his spirit?
And we're not
talking about big
things.
I've tried to
help you think.
Look, everything
matters to God.
Everything
doesn't matter to
us.
But everything
matters to God.
Our attitudes,
our motivations,
what we do and
don't do.
Most of you in
this room, you've
been in church a
long time.
You've been exposed
to the general
teaching of God's
word.
Most of you know
how God wants you
to live in your
home.
Men, are you
being the man
that God's called
you to be and
loving your wife
like Christ loves
the church?
Young people
living at home
with your parents,
are you truly
honoring them,
respecting them,
obeying them
with the right
attitude?
Are you running
from something
the Lord's calling
you to do in
terms of
ethics in your
work?
Are you
stealing?
Maybe not
taking something,
but you're
stealing time.
You're stealing,
you're taking from
what is not
yours.
others.
Are you doing
what you know
you're supposed
to be doing
in your school
work with your
friends, things you
do away from home
and away from
church?
Are you running
from God or
are you ignoring
the presence of
the Lord because
you're more
concerned about
other things,
other people in
your life?
could it be that
you would think
I'm not really
disobeying God,
I'm just not
thinking about
God.
He's just not
on the radar
right now.
I'm thinking
about some
people, some
situations.
That's what I'm
most focused on.
Now one way we
can evaluate our
attitude toward
being in the
presence of the
Lord is to
examine our
prayer lives.
I'm talking
about all of us.
How would you
describe the
quality of your
prayer life right
now?
How would you
describe the
meaningfulness of
it?
The value that
you place on it?
Are you spending
time with God in
meaningful prayer?
For example, like
Jesus taught us to
pray.
Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be
your name, your
kingdom come, your
will be done, your
will be done on
earth as it is in
heaven.
As you think about
your prayer life, do
you focus on God
really and praise him,
worship him personally?
Do you thank him for
all the many ways he
blesses you?
Do you confess your
sins quickly when you're
aware of them?
Are you seeking God's
will about the details
of your life?
You know, as a
general rule, if we
don't pray, we don't
obey God.
If we don't pray, we
live selfishly.
We do foolish things.
Think, if we really
don't pray, aren't we
more like atheists than
Christians?
If we don't pray, God's
just left out of our
lives.
Sometimes the best
thing that can happen
to us is for God to
truly let us have our
way like he did Jonah.
And you think, well,
why would you say
something like that?
Well, the first time we
see Jonah acknowledging
God's presence is when
he was thrown into the
ocean.
The first time we see
Jonah pray in this book,
he's a prophet of God,
is when he was in the
belly of the fish.
Some people have to be
humbled, broken, and put
in a desperate situation
before they realize how
much they really and
truly need God and are
willing to call out to
him in prayer.
Is that true for you?
Are you just living your
life basically as if God
doesn't exist?
You don't talk to him,
you don't really think
about him, you're not
concerned about knowing
his will, much less doing
it.
Some people, they've got
to be brought down low
in order for God to get
their attention.
Sometimes we have to
experience the consequences
of our sin and our
selfishness, our
self-centeredness to wake
up and realize how
desperately we really and
truly do need a
relationship with God.
Is that going to be what
it takes for you to reap
what you sow?
To experience the
consequences of living with
no relationship with God?
That's what it took for
Jonah, and Jonah really
knew better.
He was a prophet.
That's what it took for
Jonah to learn this
important lesson about
prayer.
Look at next.
Desperate prayer is God
focused.
Jonah becomes very God
focused in the belly of
that fish.
He recognizes that God is
sovereign over all
creation.
Look at it.
He says that it was God
who threw him overboard.
For you cast me into the
deep, into the heart of the
seas.
God worked through the
sailors, but it was God
who did it.
He even said that the
waves of the ocean
belong to God.
Look at it.
All your waves and your
billows passed over me.
The real focus of
Jonah's prayer is God.
I want you to think.
What is the real focus of
your prayers?
For some people, the real
focus is just themselves.
They pray just very
selfish, all about me,
mine, mine prayers.
Is the focus of your prayer
yourself, other people,
your stuff?
Or is God the focus of
your prayers?
You know, this is really a
prayer of thanksgiving, not
of complaint.
Jonah's not whining here
about what God has done to
him.
He's not accusing God of
mistreating him.
Jonah understands that
everything that happens to
him in the ocean and in the
fish, it was God intervening
and graciously rescuing
him.
Look at verse six again,
the last part.
Yet you brought up my life
from the pit, O Lord, my
God.
You know, one way we can
evaluate our attitude toward
God right now is to
evaluate our attitude toward
the suffering that we
basically bring upon
ourselves.
Johnny Erickson Tata is
someone uniquely qualified
to comment on this.
She has spent the last 40
to 50 years as a
paraplegic in a wheelchair,
came about as a young woman
in a diving accident.
Look at what she says.
When God brings suffering
into your life as a
Christian, be it mild or
drastic, he is forcing you to
decide on issues you have
been avoiding.
That's exactly what God's
doing through Jonah's
suffering.
That may be what God is
doing through your suffering
right now.
All suffering is not God's
discipline.
But if you're suffering right
now, if you are suffering right
now as a result of your sin,
your stubbornness, your
rebellion, your lack of love,
if that's why you're suffering
spiritually, emotionally,
physically, mentally, whatever
it may be, God is forcing you
to come face to face with the
issue you're trying to avoid.
We're going to come back this
next week and conclude the
study of Jonah's prayer, but
for now, I want us to end this
by looking at the turning point
in Jonah's life was not the
miracle of being swallowed by
the fish.
Understand that.
That was not the key event.
The turning point was when Jonah
stopped running from God in
disobedience and started running
to God in desperate,
heartfelt prayer.
Could that be what you need to
do this morning?
Are you running from God about
something?
Stop it.
Turn around.
Run to God in prayer.
Are you ignoring God?
I mean, you're living the,
you're living a great life.
You're living the American
dream.
You've got a nice family, a good
job.
You're nice to everybody.
But God is really not a part
of your life.
The turning point for you very
well may be when you turn to
God.
When you start running to God
in real, heartfelt, desperate
prayer.
I want to encourage you right
now.
Try it.
Try it now.
And see what God does.
Let's pray together.
Father,
Father,
you know our needs.
You know where we need to be
broken, where we need to be
healed, where we need to be
humbled, where we need to be
encouraged.
Father, help us to not have to
learn the kind of lessons Jonah
learned, the way he learned
them.
Help us to learn from his
foolishness, sinfulness.
Help us, Father, to come to you
right now.
In confession and repentance of
our sins,
our sins of omission as well as
commission.
Help us, Father, to come close to
you right now.
And let's just all be prayerful,
listen to the Lord, and respond to
him.
I would be happy to pray with you
during this time.
If there's something you want to
pray about here at the front,
this moment, you come during this
time.
But the important thing is that we
hear God, we recognize our need,
and out of desperation, go to God
in prayer about it.
Let's pray and you respond.