Prayer Inside a Fish

Read Jonah 2:1-10

PRAY

Introduction

Have you ever been talking with someone and you just get the sense that they don’t mean what they’re saying? Or maybe you can tell they’re lying just to mess with you? Matt and Kaitlyn do this to me all the time!

That’s almost how this prayer feels with Jonah here. Everything we read here sounds really good, but given whats just gone down and how I know how this story ends, its hard to really believe him.

We’re going to look at his prayer together tonight and see some of the truths he prays to the Lord, even if he doesn’t fully believe them. My sermon title for tonight is “Prayer Inside a Fish”.

I’ve broken up this prayer into 3 sections: Jonah Recalls, Jonah Decides, and God Moves.

My prayer is that you see the truth in what Jonah is praying, see through some of his hypocrisy, and ultimately praise the Lord again for seeing His great compassion and control on display.

Jonah Recalls

Our first section, Jonah Recalls, begins with verse 1. We ended last week in chapter 1 with Jonah being swallowed up by a great fish, which is a mind blowing display of the grace and mercy of God toward Jonah.

This evening we pick up with Jonah…PRAYING INSIDE THE BELLY OF THE FISH. Wild! He begins his prayer by remembering how he called out to the Lord in his distress of being thrown overboard…and the Lord answered him.

Jonah in his prayer says that he was in the “belly of Sheol”, meaning he was in the place of the dead…he was sure his life was over. Remember, he was in an intense storm, literally IN the sea.

And yet, Jonah cried, and the Lord heard his voice.

In your distress…cry out to the Lord! When your school work seems to have you drowning, cry out to Him. When people make fun of you, cry out to Him. When your parents are fighting, cry out to Him.

If you’ve trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, and you cry out to the Lord for help in your distress…He will hear your voice. If you don’t trust Christ alone tonight, if you would repent of your sin and believe in Him, He would forgive you of all you’ve done and will do.

Jonah goes on in verse 3 in this prayer, speaking with the Lord about how the Lord Himself cast Jonah into the deep and he gets surrounded by the seas and he says that “God’s waves” pass over Him.

Jonah acknowledges the sovereignty, the absolute control of God here. He knows that God is in control of this and is allowing this to happen according to His will.

Now, it was Jonah’s idea for the crew to toss him overboard. But, Jonah knows that the Lord is sovereign over all.

You should to! This truth should bring you great comfort…that NOTHING surprises God. Our God doesn’t react to anything, He is in control of all things. The Lord knows everything that’s going to happen and has the absolute power and ability to allow it to happen or stop it from happening.

Students, believe tonight, as the Bible shows us, that this is GREAT news because God is the only one that truly knows whats best for you and will work all things together for your good, if you believe in and love Him.

Back in verse 4, Jonah says that he was driven away from the Lord’s sight, but was confident that he would look upon God’s holy temple again…the temple if where the presence of God was then.

Jonah goes on to recall again how the waters closed over him, weeds wrapped around his head. He was sinking deep into the sea. So deep that Jonah says he went down “to the roots of the mountains” (figure of speech, but he was deep).

And yet, verse 6, the Lord brought his life up from the pit! This is every believers story. We were deep in the pit of death until God came down and grabbed us out! Before Christ, we are spiritually dead at the bottom of the ocean. We’re not just barely swimming, we’re at the bottom. And its not until God in His overwhelming grace and mercy dives down to save us that we’re made alive in Christ.

Some of you students in here tonight are at the bottom of the pit spiritually, you’re dead in your sins because you’ve never place faith in Christ. Would you consider that deeply tonight? Repent and believe in Christ and His precious gospel tonight.

We finish this section with Jonah claiming that he remembered the Lord as his life was fainting away. His prayer came to God in the temple and the Lord heard him.

My dad is one of the most gracious people I know. Would truly give the shirt off his back for anyone. Any time I need help, even to this day as a grown man, he’ll drop what he’s doing and help. He has been so incredibly kind and generous toward me, I couldn’t possibly begin to pay him back.

But thats just it, he doesn’t want me to. He knows I never could and doesn’t expect that of me in the first place. He just gives and provides because he loves me as his son.

The same and much more has to be said about the Lord. Even in this account, He has given Jonah more mercy and grace than he could ever pay back…and the Lord knows that. He’s not seeking payback…instead God delights in steadfast love!

Student, see our gracious, compassionate, merciful God as Jonah recalls how God has saved his life. Cling to Him tonight. Stop believing that you have to come to SG to pay God back. Quit trying to show God that you were worthy of being saved. I know that so many of you feel some kind of pressure to perform and uphold a certain image…that’s not how the Lord has called you to live.

Come to SG because you GET to, because its a joy for you. God knows you could never earn it…He sent His Son to die for your sins because of His own love for you!

He doesn’t want your performance. He doesn’t want your duty. He’s inviting you to delight in Him, to find ultimate satisfaction in Him alone.

Jonah Decides

We now move to verses 8-9, where we see that Jonah Decides. Jonah rebukes those who regard or worship vain idols in verse 8. A vain idol back then would’ve likely been some type of actual statue that was worshipped. But, an idol is anything worshipped that is not God. Worship is to be reserved for God alone, who is the only worthy One.

Jonah says that those who worship idols forsake or forget or throw away the steadfast love of God…and he’s not wrong. Now, notice what Jonah decides in verse 9.

Jonah 2:9 “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!””

He decides to thank God, sacrifice to Him, and do/pay what he has vowed to the Lord. So, Jonah says here “idol worshippers forsake the steadfast love of God…but I will thank Him and sacrifice and pay my vows.” This doesn’t come across very repentant.

This should remind us of Jesus’ parable in the gospel of Luke. Who does Jonah sound more like?

Luke 18:10–14 ““Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.””

Jonah should be repenting in the belly of the fish! Instead, he critiques the Gentiles (which is common for him) and almost boastfully tells the Lord in his prayer what he’s going to do. “Instead of worshipping idols…I’M gonna sacrifice to you.” We’ll see as we finish up Jonah that he may be more given to idols than he realizes.

God Moves

This brings us to our last section, God Moves. After Jonah’s prayer, God moves by speaking to the fish that Jonah was inside of (wild!), having it throw Jonah up onto dry land. Again, more grace on display.

Verse 10 is another example of the sovereignty of God in that all of creation obeys His word. He speaks to the wind and it obeys. He appoints great fish and they listen to His commands. The very creation that moves at the command of God is a rebuke to Jonah, the rebellious prophet.

And yet, God still moved despite Jonah’s mess and hypocrisy. Praise God that He gives that grace to me and you still today. When my walk doesn’t match my talk, God is patient with me. When you talk crazy at school and then come here and put on a bit of a show at SG or at church, God’s grace and mercy is still there.

Don’t seek to abuse it. God’s patience does not give us permission to sin. If you do seek to abuse His grace, He may just send a great fish to get your attention.

Conclusion

We’ve seen in Jonah’s prayer him recalling what God has done, which put on display the mighty control, power, and compassion of God. We’ve also looked at a decision Jonah makes, which gives us a look into Jonah’s heart before the Lord, seeming to lack repentance.

And we ended with God moving. Cling tonight to this sovereign God, who has great compassion toward you. Don’t look to abuse it but instead seek to delight in Him. There is joy everlasting in the Lord, go and live in it.

PRAY