Running to God in Prayer (Part 1)

I want you to look on the screen with me at three events that the Bible records and think

about what they have in common.

God parted the waters of the Red Sea so the children of Israel, His people, could walk

through on dry land.

After they were across, He closed the waters on the pursuing Egyptians and they drowned.

Daniel was unjustly sentenced to death by being thrown into a den of lions.

But God sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions and they didn't touch Daniel.

They didn't harm him at all.

Jesus fed over 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

They all ate until they were full.

And there were 12 basketfuls of pieces left over.

All four Gospels record that.

I'm sure everyone has figured out that all of those incidents are miracles that are described

as miracles in the Bible.

The Bible records hundreds of miracles.

The most important event in the Bible is the resurrection of Jesus and it is a miracle.

The person who refuses to believe that God can intervene in this world that He created, suspend the laws of nature that He put into place,

and do supernatural things that we call miracles, that person cannot have a relationship with God.

The fact is that anyone who denies the reality of miracles must also deny the reality of the God who has revealed Himself in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ.

Now I am stressing the importance, the necessity of believing in miracles to prepare us for what we're going to look at this morning in the book of Jonah.

Turn with me if you would to Jonah chapter 1 verse 17 and we're going to read through the end of chapter 2.

Jonah 1:17

In the Hebrew Bible chapter 2 begins with the English Bibles verse 17 of chapter 1.

It's all one story.

The story of the great fish swallowing Jonah and Jonah living to tell about it is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible.

However, it is also one of the most unbelievable things you'll ever read and it is unbelieved by many people.

I'm going to guess that 98% of people in this room are familiar with the story.

But there's some you've never read it.

Some you haven't read it in a long time.

So before we go any further, let's read the story.

A lot of times we refer to it as a children's Bible story of Jonah and the big fish.

Or as some people call it, Jonah and the big whale.

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,

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.

For you cast me into the deep, into 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 trapped or were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.

Yet you brought up my life from the pit.

Oh Lord, my God.

When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord.

My prayer came to you and to your holy temple.

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 the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Now, did you notice that this story is not really a story about a great fish?

The fish is an important part of the story because God used it to rescue Jonah.

God used the fish as an instrument of His grace to save Jonah.

But the fish is really a minor character in this chapter and in this book.

Now, there are some commentators, if you do a study of this,

there are some commentators who will go to the trouble of describing

why we should take this as a factual story.

For example, they describe the kind of fish or the kind of a whale

that is big enough to have swallowed Jonah

and would have had enough air inside to sustain his life.

You can read about that.

There are some who will write about a few recorded stories

of someone surviving inside a large fish for several days.

And when the fish was caught and cut open, they were alive.

But I agree with what most commentators say about this.

We don't need to prove this story really happened.

It is presented in the Word of God as a miraculous work of God

that happened at some point in time in the life of this man named Jonah.

That's how it reads.

Look again, verse 117.

The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

Jonah 2:10

Chapter 2, verse 10.

The Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Our God is a miracle-working God.

And because He is God, He doesn't explain how His miracles could have really happened.

He is not concerned to try to make us skeptics in the 21st century

believe that He did what He did, that He still does what He does.

This passage, this story of Jonah and the big fish,

it is presented in the Bible as something that God did.

It happened.

And if we understand the Bible to be God's Word,

we need to understand whether we can explain it or not

and accept this is a miracle of God.

But there's an even better reason, more powerful reason

for us to believe what happened to Jonah really happened.

Jesus believed it.

And Jesus even used this story to teach about His own death and resurrection.

It's recorded in Matthew 12 and other Gospels.

But look at this one.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him saying,

Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.

But He 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.

You see, Jesus understood this to be a real story.

And He used it to teach the reality that He was going to die, be buried,

be buried, and then rise again three days later.

The focal point of chapter 2 of Jonah is not a great fish who swallowed Jonah,

but the gracious God who rescued Jonah.

And He just chose to use a fish to do it.

There's something else about chapter 2 that we need to observe, take note of.

And I hope if you're a regular reader of the Bible, you've already figured it out.

Beginning in verse 2, chapter 2, verse 2 through verse 9,

this reads like a psalm.

If you're familiar with the psalms and you read this,

in fact, if you just took out verse 2 through 9 of this chapter

and just gave it to the average Bible reader,

they'd think, well, this is one of the psalms.

Well, it is a psalm.

It's a psalm of Jonah.

Now, I want you to look at the big picture of this passage.

It is a prayer.

The prayer of Jonah written in the form of a psalm.

Jonah is actually, or it appears he's quoting from the psalms

seven or eight times.

If you've got a Bible that has cross-references,

you will see that in the text, verses 2 through 9.

Jonah wrote this sometime after it happened,

and he's looking back describing his experience in the ocean

when he thought he was going to drown

and inside this fish when he prayed to God.

This is a long introduction, I know.

And so what we're going to look at next

is just the first point of chapter 2's study,

and we'll come back next week and finish it up.

Let's look now at what we can learn

from Jonah's experience of running to God in prayer.

Point number one, God can put us in a position

where all we can do is pray.

We need to understand this.

God can, and sometimes does,

put us, his people we're talking about,

in a position where all we can do is pray.

From the beginning of chapter 1,

Jonah has been running from God.

That's what the whole story has been up to this point.

He is a prophet of God.

He's a believer.

He is one who knows God,

has a relationship with God,

but he's rebelling at this point in time,

chapter 1.

He's rebelling and running from

what he knows God wants him to do.

He does his best to ignore God

while he's on board this ship,

even during a life-threatening storm.

No one else on this ship

believed in the one true God.

Everyone else on that ship,

they were pagans

who worshipped all kinds of false gods.

But here's what we read in chapter 1.

Everyone prayed except Jonah.

It appears that Jonah was so determined

to not do God's will

that he was willing to die

rather than repent and do it.

That's the impression that he gives

when he tells those sailors,

if you want this storm to stop,

throw me overboard.

Knowing full well,

you get thrown overboard

in the Mediterranean Sea

in the midst of the storm,

you're going to die.

You're going to drown.

But God was determined

to change Jonah's mind

by putting him in a position

where he would stop running from God

and start running to God

in prayer.

God did two things

to bring this about.

God used the sailors

to throw Jonah overboard,

sink to the bottom

of the Mediterranean Sea,

and come close to drowning.

But Jonah, I want you to look,

he described all this

as God's work.

Verse 3,

For you cast me into the deep.

God just used the sailors.

But Jonah understood.

He had been running from God

and God was tired of it.

And God stopped his running

by throwing him into the sea

using the hands of those sailors.

God sent a great fish

to rescue Jonah,

save his life,

by swallowing him

and keeping him alive,

trapped inside its body

for three days and nights.

Jonah didn't say

this just happened.

He attributed it

to the work of God.

Look again at verse 17.

And the Lord

appointed a great fish

to swallow Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly

of the fish

three days and three nights.

I want you to imagine

what it would have been like

for Jonah

to go through all this.

Anytime we read the Bible,

we need to understand

this is describing

real events

that happened

in history,

in time

to people just like us.

Whenever you read

something in the Bible,

think,

this really happened.

If I had been there,

I could have seen it.

Think about those people.

They're just human beings

like us.

And so we can get more

out of some studies

by just putting ourselves

in situations

and thinking about

what it would have been like.

Jonah was probably

wedged inside the fish

and unable to move

during this time.

You've probably seen cartoons

where Jonah is swallowed

by a whale

and he wakes up

in the belly of the whale

and it's just a large area

like this

or a cave

or something.

And he just sits around,

you know,

taking it easy,

talking to God,

whatever.

Jonah was swallowed

by a fish

and most likely

whatever position

he was in,

when he got in there,

that's how he...

He was stuck.

He was wedged.

At best,

he would have had

just a little room

to wiggle around.

Inside that fish,

he was in total darkness.

The air was thin.

There was a constant,

sickening stink

and almost unbearable heat

inside this big fish.

Now think about it.

He would be in shock

at first.

Then he would have had

a full-blown

panic attack.

He'd have taken

a whole bottle

of lorazepam

if he'd have had it

or something like that.

He would have drifted

in and out

of consciousness.

But at some point,

over the course

of those three days,

he came to himself.

He realized

where he was

and what his condition was.

He didn't know

if he'd live and die

to start with,

live or die

to start with.

At some point,

he spiritually

and emotionally

ran to God

in prayer.

and looking back,

he describes it

in the form of a psalm.

R.T. Kendall

describes Jonah's

situation like this.

The belly of the fish

is not a happy place

to live,

but it is a good place

to learn

and Jonah

had a lot to learn.

Now I want you

to understand.

I am not implying

in this message

that God's going

to do something

like this to you.

God rarely

ever

goes to such

extreme measures

to turn around

his wayward people.

But God has

many ways

of putting us

in positions

where we are

willing to stop

running

and start running

to him

in prayer.

If we could just

go around this room

this morning

and everybody

explain a time

when God

got your

attention,

we would find

a lot of

common ways

that God works

in our life

to get our

attention.

Some of us

in here,

we've been

maybe spiritually

asleep

or indifferent

or even rebellious,

but a family

crisis

got our

attention,

woke us up,

caused us

to turn to God

in prayer.

Some people,

a health

scare

is what it

took to

bring you

back to where

you would

talk to God.

Some people,

it's a financial

problem.

You're going to

lose something.

Some people,

it's something

that goes on

with your job,

your school.

For some people,

it's relational

outside of family.

God just has

his ways.

knowing us,

knowing what

will get our

attention

in the situations

of life

that we have,

God has ways

when he's ready

to cause us

to pay attention

to him,

listen to him,

talk to him

in prayer.

I think Abraham

Lincoln describes

the way all of us

have felt at times.

He said,

I have been

driven many

times to my

knees by the

overwhelming

conviction that

I have nowhere

else to turn.

If you're in a

situation like

that now,

or you know

someone close

to you who

is,

I want you to

understand that

God takes no

pleasure in

putting such

pressure on

his children.

You may need

to assure

somebody of

that.

But at the

same time,

God loves us

enough to

discipline us

severely if

necessary to

put us in a

position where

we can and

want to come

back to him in

confession, in

repentance, and

renewed

commitment.

He is a

great father.

father.

As we

studied a few

weeks ago,

great parents

discipline their

children.

You don't just

let anything go.

And a loving,

gracious parent

will sometimes

go to

tremendous lengths

to inflict

pain for the

ultimate outcome

of turning a

child's life

around if

possible.

Well, God

can and does

that when

necessary.

But we learn

from Jonah that

we can never run

too far for God

to hear our

prayer of

desperation.

Look at verse

two.

I called out

to the Lord

out of my

distress.

He answered

me.

Out of the

belly of Sheol

I cried,

and you heard

my voice.

God, or

Jonah called

out to God

from what he

considered to be

the place of

death, Sheol.

You see it

several times in

the book of

Psalms.

The place of

death.

A place of

no return.

That's what

Jonah felt

like at first

when he cried

out to God.

But God

heard his

prayer.

And God

graciously

answered it.

If you are

away from God

right now,

I want to

encourage you

as strongly

as I can.

Call out

to God

right now

where you

are just

as you

are.

God

you may

have drifted

from God

years ago.

You may

think to

yourself, if

you'll stop

and think,

I've been

sort of

spiritually

indifferent

for quite some

time.

You may be

here right now

in body,

but this

entire service,

your mind and

your heart,

it's not been

here.

If that's

true, you

know it.

Because you

haven't

worshipped God

and hadn't

really wanted

to.

You haven't

been listening

to Him.

Because truth

be known,

you're not

interested in

Him.

You come to

church for

various reasons,

out of habit,

out of to

please someone,

or maybe

with a

thought,

God will

love me

more,

He won't

do something

to me if

I put in

the time

on Sundays.

Crazy thought,

heretical

thought,

but a lot of

people have

those kinds

of thoughts.

It could be

that you've

rebelled against

God,

and you're

living in

willful sin

right now.

You've

turned away

from Him,

but you've

not been able

to escape

Him,

His conviction,

or the guilt

that goes along

with your sin,

because as a

child of God,

you just know

it's wrong,

and you can't

get that out

of your mind.

It may be

that what's

going on in

your life right

now,

somebody sitting

next to you

could elbow

you because

they know it.

They know

that you're

living in

rebellion right

now.

But it could

be the people

you're sitting

with,

that you live

with,

it could be

they don't

know,

because what's

going on in

your life is

mainly in your

mind,

in your heart,

it's in your

thoughts,

it's in your

desires,

it's things

you do in

secret.

But nonetheless,

you know it,

and God knows

it.

And so the

conviction is

there,

the guilt is

there,

but no one

else in the

world may know

what you're

going through.

If you're

away from

God for

any reason,

learn from

Jonah's

painful

experience.

Don't put

God in

position to

so work in

your life

that he has

to get you

like Jonah

where all

you can do

is pray.

God's

God's

God.

This is the

whole point of

today's message

because we as

Christians,

we disappoint

God.

We ignore

God.

We run

from God.

We rebel

against God.

We do.

If you think

and say,

if I don't,

you've got some

deep problems.

You don't

understand yourself

or you don't

understand sin

or you don't

understand God.

if you don't

think of

yourself as

having a sin

problem,

an obedience

problem,

a holiness

problem,

a love

problem,

talk to

your spouse.

They can

help you.

Talk to

your children.

Talk to

your parents.

Talk to

anyone who

knows you

well and

will tell

you the

truth.

truth.

We,

you and

me,

we can be

just like

Jonah or

worse as

God's

children at

times.

Here's how I

want us to

end this with

a thought today.

Are you

closer to God

right now than

you have ever

been in your

life?

If you are,

that's

something to

just be

thankful for,

to praise

God for,

that's a

sign that

God's working

in your

life and

you need

to just

be thankful

and ask

God to

help you

just to

stay close

to Him.

If you

are not

close to

God right

now,

closer than

you've ever

been,

why is

that?

I want

you to

try to

identify

why.

We as

God's

children

shouldn't

be content

to not

be as

close as

possible to

Him.

Is there

something you

have done

or refused

to do

that is

the source

of your

separation?

Is there

something that

the Bible

clearly teaches

but you're

just not

willing to

obey it?

and it

may be

something

related to

who you

are as

a member

of a

family.

It may

be about

attitudes.

It may

be the way

you treat

certain people

or certain

kinds of

people.

It may be

your mouth,

your tongue.

There's

something about

something that the

Bible clearly

teaches but you

just won't

obey it.

Or is

there an

internal voice

of the

Holy Spirit

that is

leading you

to do

something but

you're trying

to ignore

that?

You're not

obeying

that.

It could be

something along

the line of

the Lord's

prompting you

to serve

Him a

certain way

or He's

prompting you

to get

involved in

a certain

person's life

as a

Christian witness

or influence

to meet

a need.

Either way,

if we're not

being faithful

to what we

know the

Bible says

about something

or we're

not acting

on what the

Lord is

leading us

to do from

His Spirit

within us,

our refusal

is sinful

disobedience.

And if that

describes why

you are

separated from

God right now,

there's only

one solution,

that is you've

got to confess

it to Him

and turn from

it.

Here's what I

want you to

understand.

It may be

something that's

going on for

a long time,

but God is

never so far

away that He

can't hear our

prayer of sincere

confession and

repentance.

There are no

exceptions to

God's promise in

1 John 1, 9.

If we confess

our sins, He is

faithful and just

to forgive us

our sins and to

cleanse us from

all unrighteousness.

Here's what I

want you to hear.

God will forgive

you and restore

you to fellowship

with Him no

matter what

you've done,

no matter how

many times you've

done it,

no matter how

long ago,

if you will come

to Him,

the way the

Scripture says.

But it could be

this morning that

you would say,

I'm not as close

to God as I once

was,

and I don't know

why.

You're just sort

depressed,

discouraged.

It's just sort

of maybe empty.

You're not

conscious of any

real willful

sin.

It's not that

you're not willing

to confess

something.

It's not that you

hate God or even

are indifferent to

Him.

You just,

there's just

something wrong.

Could it be

that you're not

spending any

meaningful time

with Him

in His Word,

in prayer?

I'm talking about

just being still

and quiet before

the Lord,

spending time with

Him on a regular

basis,

talking to Him

about what's

going on in your

life,

listening to Him

as He speaks

from His Word,

helping you to

understand Him

better,

how to relate to

Him better,

helping you understand

yourself better,

you know,

prayer and Bible

reading or Bible

study are the

two most important

means of grace

that God has

given us to

cultivate a

relationship with

Him.

We cannot,

you can't,

I can't,

no one can

spend,

no one can

develop a

relationship with

Jesus,

with the Lord,

apart from

spending time

with Him

in real,

honest prayer

and open,

receptive,

Bible reading.

Spending time

with the Lord

is the best

way to draw

close to Him

as James

encourages us

to do in his

letter.

Look at it.

He says,

draw near to

God and He

will draw near

to you.

Are you not

as close to

God as you

used to be,

as you want

to be?

You don't know

why?

Well, here's a

step.

Draw close to

God.

Even if you

don't feel like

it, talk to

Him.

Talk to Him

about why you

don't feel like

it.

Talk to Him

and say, I

don't know

what's wrong.

Help me to

see.

Help me to

understand.

Read His

Word.

Read the

Psalms.

The

Psalmist,

the Psalmist

has all kinds

of problems,

just like Jonah.

The Psalmist

has problems

with people

sometimes.

Sometimes he

just hates

people.

Sometimes he

feels like

God's far

away.

He's honest

about this.

God knows

if you hate

someone or

can't stand

someone.

God knows

if you feel

like you are

a million miles

from Him.

It's no

surprise.

So just talk

to Him about

it.

Be honest

with Him

about it.

Ask Him

to help

you.

Ask Him

to help

you to

change.

Ask Him

to help

you have a

better attitude.

Ask Him

to draw

close to

you as

you are

seeking to

draw close

to Him.

God

graciously

pursues His

rebellious,

disobedient

children.

As our

loving Heavenly

Father,

He wants

to forgive

us.

He wants

to restore

us to

fellowship

with Him

if we're

away.

And God

really wants

to do it

the easy

way.

Through our

willing,

sincere,

wholehearted

repentance

and commitment

to Him.

God doesn't

want to

wear us

out.

But He

will if He

has to.

God would

much rather

us come

to Him

the easy

way.

But like

we see in

Jonah,

God loves

us so much

He'll do

whatever it

takes,

no matter how

painful it

is to

cause us

to stop

running from

Him and

start running

to Him in

desperate

prayer.

Let's pray

together.

Dear God,

help us to

see ourselves

in this

story

where

applicable.

God

help us

all.

But Father,

help us

all,

whether it

be for

now or

for some

point in

the future,

help us

all to

see that

You are

able and

You are

willing to

so work in

our lives,

if we're

Your children,

to stop our

running and

disobedience

and put us

in a position

where all

we can do

and want to

do is seek

You in

prayer.

Lord,

show us how

we should

respond so

that we

might leave

here today

walking with

You in

real,

loving

fellowship

and

obedience.

And Father,

if there's

anyone in

this room

who is not

a Christian,

help them

to understand

that the only

way they can

begin a

relationship

with You

is to

confess their

sin,

truly turn

from it,

and trust

Jesus as

their personal

Savior and

Lord.

Help that

person to do

it now.

Let's just

all stay

in an

attitude of

prayer and

listen to the

Lord and

respond to

Him.

That's what

this time

is for

us to

listen to

and obey

our Lord.

And if you

would like me

to pray for

you during

this time,

I'd be

happy to

do that.

Let's just

listen to the

Lord and

obey Him.