What Happened To Him? - He Didn't Keep His Promise

What Happened To Him - He Didn’t Keep His Promise - Jonah 2:7-9

Jonah 2:7–9 NKJV

7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. 8 “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

May God Bless The Reading Hearing & Understanding of his Precious Word!

Prayer

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

Intro: Let me ask this question - Have you ever been so sad, depressed, lost that you could not see any way out? When it seems like all around you is darkness and hope seems like a faraway memory?

In this scripture , we see Jonah’s Heart! In the text- if you listen Jonah’s heart is giving us a loud shout of victory! It’s like he’s saying I’m coming out! This is a a statement that shows how strong our faith is, how strong our hope is, and how great God's kindness is.

I don’t know what you are going through - but this prayer from Jonah is one that will change us, by looking at the truth and that truth will bring new life to our own situations.

Jonah 2:7 NKJV

7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

Jonah 2:7 NCV

7 “When my life had almost gone, I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple.

When things seem to be going wrong and our lives seem to be slipping away, everything we though we had or wanted to have is gone, or it never manifested, when we are tired and want to give up, this prayer from Jonah reminds us to remember that God is always there! God is always there for me and for you! But I believe, we You and me, - we have to make it a habit to turn to Him! We - you and me must remember that He is there even in the darkest places! We - you and me must remember - we have to talk to God, pray to him, not with just words of fear, but words that come from our heart!

Deuteronomy 31:8 NCV

8 The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry.”

Jonah knew something - he new what God had promised! God does not change! In the good times - he’s there , in the bad times he’s there, when I don’t know what to do- he’s there, when I think I know what to do- he’ there, When I mess up he’s there!

Psalm 55:22 NLT

22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

In these trying times - for us individually, and collectively - we can find real comfort, renewed strength, and new hope in God's unchanging trustworthiness when we stand on his promises!

I read where the late Charles Stanley said

"When we remember God's faithfulness in the past, it gives us confidence to trust Him in the present and future."

Lean in for a second

Jonah was a person just like the rest of us: a physical, emotional, spiritual human being who has ups and downs, highs and lows, good days and bad days. At this point in time, his emotions are raw and his words are unfiltered. And God’s Spirit uses this man to help lead us out of the pit of depression when we are lost in its darkness

Can we go a little deeper?

Jonah 2:8 NLT

8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

check this out - remember Jonah is in the belly of a gigantic fish! It’s dark - In the middle of all this something pops into Jonah’s spirit in his prayer and he says “ Those who worship false gods- turn their backs on all God’s mercies

My question was - why and how did that come up in Jonah’s prayer - I believe God is talking to us today and giving us this reminder to look into our own hearts and see if there are any idols or other things that are keeping us from fully feeling God's love.

Have we made things in our lives - idols above God, whether you are aware of it or not! - Have these idol’s become distractions to our intention! Here is what I mean, if your intention is to Love God, with all your heart, soul and might - what is the distraction that is keeping you from achieving that goal! If your intention is to be obedient to God what is the distraction or the idol that is causing you to be disobedient to God! Jonah’s idol - Jonah’s distraction was his pride! He refused to obey God and go to Ninevah! So he realizes in his prayer that he has been worshipping a false God - Pride and that has put him in this situation and the Holy Spirit brings it up in his prayer!

When your intention, When my intention, is to follow Jesus Christ, no distractions can get in the way! Ask any successful, business man, athlete, musician, parent, husband or wife, employer or employee, If your intention is to be the best, to be successful - there are no distractions, false idol’s, little gods, no people that will get in your way!

We have to be intentional, about turning away from anything that pulls us away from God and the fullness of His love. When we let go of useless idols, we make room for the abundance of God's unchanging love and let His salvation flow easily in our lives.

Can I be real with you - many of us so called - Christians - don’t really have intention on following Jesus - that's why we are distracted by the smallest things!

Romans 8:38–39 NKJV

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We must have this type of intention when it comes to Loving Jesus! We must have this type of intention when it comes to Following God We must have this type of intention when it comes to obedience!

Jonah 2:9 NLT

9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

In this confident statement, Jonah says that he will always thank the Lord and keep his promises to him. He says that his safety - his peace- his joy-comes only from the Lord! He recognized that God is the best way, God is salvation and God is his hope!

When we hear what Jonah says, My reaction, your reaction must be with shouts of praise!

Jonah says I will fulfill my vows to you Lord! I will keep my promises to God.

What have you promised God, that you are not keeping!

Get up, recommit, get intentional about keeping your promises to God!

We must develop a heart of prayer, a heart of praising and a heart of thanking God even when things are hard.

Psalm 66:1–4 NKJV

1 Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! 2 Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. 4 All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah

When you and I say with unshakable faith that no matter what God is awesome, No matter what is going on in my life the salvation of the Lord is real!

When we do this and we do it from our heart our lives become a living testimony about how powerful and loving God is.

Man let me tell you this, you can’t wait for the praise team to pump you up for worship! Jonah was in the belly of the fish - no organist, no soloist, no worship leader, no other musicians, no choir, no hype man, no dj! All he had was intention and his intention was to thank God

Jonah 2:9 M:BCL

9 But I’m worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I’d do! Salvation belongs to God!”

There was no one around in his darkest hours, but him and God! He said Lord I’m worshipping you, God - I’m calling out to you in thanksgiving! God, I’ll do what I promised I’ll Do what I promised!

Let me tell you and I know this is easy to say, and maybe more challenging to do - It does not matter how bad your situation is - your worship cannot be a passive experience; Your worship, your thanksgiving must be active and participatory out of love for God!

Jonah understood - he broke his promise to God, once he realized - the error of his way - he started thanking God and worshipping him !

Jonah 2:10 NKJV

10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Next week Second Chance!!!

God Bless You and God keep you is my prayer!