Jonah Prays

I am glad that you are with us tonight as we dive into Jonah 2 and this is a really important chapter in the book of Jonah because we see the prayer of an honest and desperate man. The last we heard of Jonah, God had appointed a large fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah will be in the belly of this fish for three days and three nights. Something that is incredible to think about and I never really thought about it until I started working on these lessons is that what we see in God saving Jonah through the fish is something that seems so contrary to the way that we often view rescue and salvation. This is a theme that is seen throughout the Bible. What we think is best one way is often not THE best way because God has a different understanding. If you look at the sermon on the mount, you will see Jesus say, “You have often heard this but what it really means is that. Here is the fullness of what this teaching really is.” When you look at the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, we see things that on the surface don’t seem to make sense but they make perfect sense in the Kingdom that God is building and in the Kingdom that God is sovereignly ruling. Jesus Christ is building an upside-down kingdom. We read things like, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” and that sounds totally contrary to what we think. We look at Paul’s teachings on weakness and strength in 2 Corinthians and that seems totally topsy-turvy from what we think of strength. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Power made perfect in weakness, when I am weak, then I am strong. Does that sound like what we are told we need in order to thrive today? Yet this is how God operates. So, how does this relate to what is happening to Jonah? If God were not to send this great fish to swallow Jonah, Jonah would have perished in the sea. He would have drowned or some other creature would have got him. The storm was so rough, the seas so high that remember, the boat itself was on the verge of being torn apart. Jonah is a dead man but then God sends the fish. On the surface, it looks like Jonah is more dead than he would have been in the sea. In Jonah’s mind, the last thing he would have wanted was to be fish-food but look what God does! He is saying, “Jonah I am going to save you but it is going to be totally contrary to what you think salvation should be like.” Now we look to the cross. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” There we really do see strength through weakness, it is there we see death to death by the death of another, it is there where we see salvation through crucifixion. All of which on the surface looks totally foreign and backwards but in the hands of a sovereign God, exactly what is most needed. What we are going to do tonight is look at Jonah’s prayer, really more of a desperate plea, and we are going to look at 4 elements of this prayer: Jonah’s honesty, Jonah’s confession, Jonah’s thankfulness and then finally, we will look at Jonah’s deliverance. Let’s pray and then we will dive into Jonah 2

Jonah 2 ESV

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 wrapped about 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, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into 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.

Jonah’s Honesty (Verses 1-3)

The first thing that we will not about Jonah’s prayer is that it is an honest prayer. Not only is it an honest prayer, it is a desperate prayer. You may have heard me say this before: the Gospel is good news but it is only good news to the desperate and broken man. It was A.W. Tozer who said that before God uses a man mightily, He must first bruise him greatly. What was it that drove Jonah to this amazing prayer? It wasn’t because he was the hotshot prophet that had reached the mountaintop, it wasn’t because he was perfect, it wasn’t because he was just checking off his spiritual checklist. It wasn’t because he was the holiest and most righteous blessing that God ever gave to the world. It was Jonah’s desperation that drove him to pray because he was powerless to do anything else! Jonah’s desperation forces him to take an honest look at his situation and this leads to an honest prayer. Jonah admits this right from the get go in verse 2 when he says that he called out to the Lord out of his distress. Jonah is honest about his situation. He isn’t praying something that is just exalted word-play. He’s not throwing out “thees and thous” to sound holy and acceptable. He’s not just saying something in order to say something. He is being honest about the situation he is in and he isn’t just throwing out religious mumbo jumbo to earn some extra favor from God. He is crying out in desperation. He is honest about the extent of his pain and it is like he is wrapped up in death itself! He doesn’t say, “Ya know, it’s really not that bad God. It could be worse.” He doesn’t do that at all! Instead, he says, “Out of the body of Sheol, out of the body of death itself I cry out!” This is a reminder that we need to be straightforward with God with the situations that we are in. If you are hurting, don’t hide the hurt. Don’t be afraid to let the Lord know how you are really feeling because God wants you to be honest and straightforward with Him. I think of some of the Psalms, the book of Job, and the book of Habakkuk where we see David, and psalm writers, Job, and Habakkuk all being very upfront with the Lord. They tell Him exactly how they are feeling and it isn’t always gentle and it isn’t always kind. They don’t use words with the fear that what they say might hurt God’s feelings. Why does God include the words of desperate people in Scripture? Because God knows how we all act! He knows that anxious and desperate people act like anxious and desperate people! Derek Kidner wrote, “The very presence of such prayers in Scripture is a witness to His understanding. He knows how men speak when they are desperate.” You don’t need to hide how you are feeling from the Lord. When you belong to Jesus, you don’t need to come and present someone to the Lord that you are not. God loves you far too much for you to put on a smiling face while you are weeping on the inside. Believe it or not, God wants the real you. He wants the real you that is being made new in the likeness of Christ. Here’s the thing, you can be honest with the Lord because He already knows how you are really feeling. We need to be honest in our prayers. Jonah’s honesty continues in verse 3 when he recognizes God Himself has providentially orchestrated what has happened to him. Did the sailors cast Jonah into the sea? Yes but they only did it because the Lord was the one that brought it to pass. Jonah says in verse 3, “God you cast me into the deep and all your waves and your billows passed over me.” Jonah recognized that he is in this position because God has brought him to it. Jonah’s running away from God did not overrule God’s sovereign command for Jonah’s life and Jonah recognizes the hand of God at work. Let’s look now at the second aspect of Jonah’s prayer and that comes down to his confession.

Jonah’s Confession (Verses 4-8)

Verse 4 continues Jonah’s honest prayer and it leads into an honest confession. Yet even in this confession, there is hope. Jonah 2:4 says

Jonah 2:4 (ESV)

Then I said, ‘I am driven away

from your sight;

yet I shall again look

upon your holy temple.’

Jonah recognizes that there is a hope that he will one day see the Lord’s holy temple. Even in the Old Testament, there are hints of resurrection and eternal life to come. Confession never leaves us without hope. If we confess to the Lord our sins, if we confess our utter need for Him, He will never leave us without hope. Confessing sin to the Lord and seeking repentance should never leave you with a pit in your stomach. It always feels like a weight that has been lifted off your shoulder. Even if we are to die, we still have the hope of eternal life. Jonah’s confession recognizes a number of things. He recognizes that it is his actions that got him into this situation. Jonah isn’t playing the blame game. He says in verse 6, “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.” Jonah says, I’m the reason that this happened, my actions have consequences. Jonah’s confession also shows that God alone is the only source of rescue and we will talk about this more later on. Jonah also confesses that what drove him to remember the Lord in prayer were the circumstances that he was in. It was affliction that drove Jonah to the Lord and it was suffering that drove him to prayer. We sort of talked about this last night. Hugh Martin said, “Jonah’s affliction constrained him to pray. And how often after backsliding or disobedience is the true tone of prayerfulness restored only through the aid of affliction.” We read in Jonah 2:7 “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.” Thank the Lord for those moments of hurt where we can do nothing but call out to Him. You would be amazed at how many of your problems would go away if you simply stopped relying on yourself. God uses moments of pain, moments of weakness, moments of heartache to get you to set your heart on Him. Look at it in this way, if you feel like you have everything, why would you go to God for anything? But if you feel like you have nothing, wouldn’t it make sense to turn to God for something? Maybe that thing you are going through right now is not God trying to punish you but God trying to get you to look at what is most important. Maybe God is trying to get you stop looking inward and start looking outward. Finally in verse 8 Jonah recognizes the uselessness and powerlessness of idols. Keep in mind, an idol does not have to be some false god that is made out of wood or whatever. An idol is anything that we place at a higher position than the Lord. An idol can really be anything. For some, money is an idol. For some sex and relationships are an idol. For some success is an idol. An idol is anything that we put in the place of God. God alone is God and He does not share that position with anyone or anything. God must be everything or He will be nothing for you. God does not say, “As long as you give me 95% of your heart, you can keep the other 5% for whatever you want.” God wants all of you. He wants the good parts and He wants the parts that you are trying to hide. Just because you aren’t bowing down to something doesn’t mean that you aren’t worshipping it. Is Jesus Christ at the very center of your life? Is He at the center of all that you do? This is a moment where you do need to reflect a little. If we were to remove your heart, would we see Christ written across the center of it? Or would He only possess a little corner? Does He possess anything at all? Ask yourself, does Jesus really have my heart? Does Jesus who has given you everything you really need have all of you? Have you given your whole heart, mind, body, and soul to Him? “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” Jonah recognized his need to confess and we need to do the same thing. I can’t even begin to tell you how many students I have had in my life have come up to me wondering whether they were saved or not. They usually say something like, “When I was 7 I prayed a prayer so does that make me a Christian?” I would say it depends on how you have lived from then to this point. Have you lived a life that is pleasing to the Lord? Have you desired to have your ways and actions conform to Him? Look if all you did was say a prayer at 7 years old and then went on living like the world and sinning so much that even the Devil blushes, you were not saved at 7. Why? Because there needs to be evidence of regeneration! There should be signs of the new birth! If I were to invite you into a home and say, “have you seen the baby? Look here’s the baby!” It would make no sense if there was no baby to show off and I never had one to begin with! But that is what so many teenagers do! They say, “I’m a Christian! I’m a Christian!” but there is absolutely no evidence of salvation and repentance ever taking place! I do not want to know what prayer you prayed as a child, I don’t want to know what Veggietales you watched, I don’t want to know if you raised your hand at an invitation, I don’t want to know how long you’ve been in church, I want to know what God you are serving now! And I don’t want to just know about it, I want to see it! I want to see the evidence of a new life in Jesus Christ happening inside of you! Understand, we never outgrow the need to repent and confess. Those 2 really go hand in hand together. If we truly confess, we will truly repent. Repenting means changing our minds and our actions and confessing means admitting that God’s way and rule is correct. When we confess that Jesus is Lord, when we repent of our sins, and when we trust our lives in God’s hand and recognize who He really is, we will find ourselves getting to the next element of Jonah’s prayer: thankfulness.

Jonah’s Thankfulness (Verse 9)

Jonah 2:9 says, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” On the surface, you might wonder what Jonah had to be thankful for. Isn’t it true that when we are dealing with difficult things that we struggle with being thankful for what we do have? What did Jonah possibly possess while in the stomach of the whale? He physically had nothing but in that moment, he recognized that spiritually he had all he ever needed and in that he was able to be thankful. You and I, no matter how awful our physical lives may be, will always have something to be thankful for. James Montgomery Boice said, “Jonah was not thankful that God had delivered him from the fish because God had not yet delivered him. He was not thankful that God was going to deliver him, because he had no idea that God was going to do it. What he was thankful for was that God had turned him from rebellion and had caused him to call on the name of the Lord again. He was thankful for salvation. He was thankful for the abiding grace of God.” There was a time a number of years ago where I was more aware of what it meant to be thankful to God in all circumstances than any other point in my life, at least up to that point because that moment has been surpassed numerous times. I remember getting to the end of my junior year of college and that was a difficult year of school for me. I was having trouble in a whole lot of different areas, I was trying to find a job for the summer so I could stay in Lynchburg with Lora and my best friend, I was becoming anti-social, I had anxiety issues that I was not sure how to deal with but the Lord by pure providence brought me to Philippians 4:6-7 where Paul writes, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I realized as I finished reading those verses that my prayer life was all out of wack. All I was doing was bringing request after request to God like He was some magical genie that was just waiting to grant my next wish. I realized that even if God were to completely cut me off from all good things in this world but still gave me Christ, I would have all that I needed in order to be thankful. So, what I started doing in my dorm was I just started praying then and there for all the things that I was thankful for and after several minutes, I still didn’t run out of things to say. If I didn’t stop then, I would probably still be going right now! We have more to be thankful for than you could possibly imagine. Jonah realized that grace truly was enough. As long as he had God, it did not matter the things that he didn’t have. Do you have a thankful heart? And do you thank God for what He has given you? Do you thank God that He has given His very Son so that you could have life? That very fact is more than enough to be thankful for regardless of the storms and seasons of life that we go through. The last thing that I want us to look at is this: Jonah’s deliverance in verses 9-10.

Jonah’s Deliverance (Verses 9-10)

Jonah recognizes that it is only through the Lord that he can be saved. One thing that I want you to notice is that Jonah is not using the word salvation in reference to spiritual salvation. He understands that any and all physical rescue, physical salvation comes from the Lord. John Calvin said, “It is then to Jehovah that salvation belongs; the work of saving appertains to no other but to the Supreme God. Since it is so, we see how absurd and insane men are, when they transfer praises to another, as every one does who invents an idol for himself. As, then, there is but the one true God who saves, we must ascribe to him alone all our praises, that we may not deprive him of his right.” Jonah may not have realized it as he said it but that truth extended far beyond the mere physical rescue that he thought of. Yes, all physical salvation comes from the Lord but the greatest salvation, the salvation of our very souls, our spiritual salvation and newness of life cane only come from the Lord. I’ve said this all week, the only hope that you have in life and death is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 7:9-12 says,

Revelation 7:9–13 (ESV)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Salvation comes solely from the Lord. The ability to save rests squarely and solely in the hands of God. If you are saved, it is due wholly to God. God does not save you 50% and you contribute the other 50%. We do not and we cannot save ourselves at all. God alone saves and that is the entire message of the Gospel. Jonathan Edwards used to say that the only thing that we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary in the first place. Just as Jonah was powerless to save himself from the stomach of the whale, you and I and every person that has ever walked the earth is totally powerless to save themselves. This is why we need grace! We need grace because we can’t do that which is necessary to save ourselves. If God did not do the work of salvation, there would be no salvation! Christians should be the least cocky, least prideful people in the world because we have recognized our utter inability to ever save ourselves. Everything that we do depends on God’s power. I have said this so many times that it will probably be etched on my tombstone and I said it even last night but you are not here because you brought yourself here or because your parents dropped you off. You are here at this very moment because it was God’s will for you to be here. You are saved at this very moment not because of anything good inside of you or anything about you but because salvation belongs to the Lord and He has shown His mercy to you. That’s why we’re saved. Salvation belongs to the Lord and yet He trusts us with the message of salvation. This should encourage you when it comes to sharing the Gospel with people, you have the message but God supplies the power, the Holy Spirit supplies the change, all you need to do is be faithful with the message. You just need to speak the message and trust God with the results. You do not empower anything. It is God who moves in the hearts of man and we know this because salvation is wholly of Him. Jesus Christ alone saves. No one else. Not you, not me, not Muhammad, not Buddha, no other name. Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”” One Savior, one name and person in order to be saved, is one more savior than anyone deserves. Yet God in His mercy has given us His only Son so that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Praise God for His wonderful gift! Thank the Lord for what He alone has given and accomplished. We’ll finish tonight with this quote from R.C. Sproul: “The Apostles had healed by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the One whom the people had crucified but whom God had raised from the dead. Why? So that all Israel might know that this is the only name there is under heaven through which men may be saved. If you are a Christian, you should be prepared to die for that affirmation. If you are not, you are playing at religion, and you have missed the Son of God.” Are you willing to die for that truth? Or are you simply putting on a play for the world to see? I don’t know your heart but I know the One that does. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.