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Title: The Twelve
Scripture: Luke 9:1-6
Speaker: Bill Shirlaw
Date: 29 January 2012
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| Title: | Jonah's Prayer |
| Reference: | Jonah 1:17-2:10 |
| Notes: | In the belly of the fish, dark, dangerous, smelly, cold. When you keep running away from God, that generally the kind of place that you end up. A turning point. Everyone’s life has one. Something that makes everything change round in our lives. I think that the most powerful prayer that Jonah ever prayed was in the belly of a fish. Jonah is in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. And while he is there he prays. He prays the Psalms. Everything that Jonah prays has reference in the psalms. Why Pray the Psalms? Because they teach us about God. What Does Jonah’s Prayer teach us about God? When you read this prayer, keep in mind that when Jonah refers to the distress of the past he means the time he spent in the water, not the time he spent in the fish. The water is the threat of death. The fish is the refuge of salvation. The cry of distress is past tense (in the water!); the voice of confidence and thanks is present (in the fish). Let’s look at the prayer. God answers us in spite of our guilt. (2) God didn’t rescue Jonah because he was good – Jonah was running from God. When the sailors ask him what they should do, he doesn’t say “turn around and drop me off so I can go to Nineveh.” No he says “Throw me overboard.” Jonah recounts in his prayer: "In my distress I called to the Lord , and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. God Loves us even when we rebel God answers us in spite of his judgment. (3-4) Even when God is displeased with us he never brings us into affliction merely for the sake of punishment. His purposes always include redemption. He is giving us “harsh grace” to draw us back to Him. God answers us and delivers us from impossible circumstances. (5-6) No matter how bad the storms of our life get – even when we get so low we have to look up to see down, God is able to deliver us. Jonah gives us courage to be unrelenting in our prayer, to keep on crying out to God and to believe that God will answer in the nick of time. God answers us in order to win our undivided loyalty and thanks. (8-9) Jonah, the one who tried to run from God has come around to realise that those who turn from God and run after idols also leave his mercy and grace behind. The storm and the fish have had their appropriate affect – he now gives thanks and promises to fulfill the vows that he has made. God answers our prayers so that our work will bring him glory. Psalm 50:15, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me." What do you do in the belly of the fish? You pray! Pray because God is good even when we are not. Pray because God is powerful enough to pull us out of anything. Pray because prayer will change you for the better. |
