DEEP SEA PRAYING

TEXT:

Jonah 2 

 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 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.
3 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.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
    from your sight;
yet I shall again look
    upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
    the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6     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.
7 When my life was fainting away,
    I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
    into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
    forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

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

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

DEEP SEA PRAYING, SESSION 1

JONAH COMES ALIVE

Anyone who has grown up in the "Christian" western hemisphere will recognize the Story of Jonah and the big fish (not a whale). We all know about Jonah's disobedience as he ran in the opposite direction which God told him to go. We have a tendency to do that at times. Jonah is not the only rebel without a cause, who was ever created. However the most anyone can tell you about Jonah is he ran from God, ended up in the big Fish for three days and then was spit on the beach to go preach Repentance to the hated Ninevites, which he did.

However if this all we know, our spiritual growth is stunted. The actual bio of Jonah along with the amazing prayer of Jonah Chapter 2 are very important in understanding this important man of God. Yes, regardless of his ways, Jonah was a man of God who not only preached as he was supposed to, but spent the rest of his years in discipleship and training of the people in the Nineveh area. He died in that area of what is now Iraq and specifically, Mosul. His tomb became known over a year ago, when amazingly the rampaging hordes of the religion of the sons of Ismael, destroyed it for entire world to see. What they did not realize is that this act confirmed the life and ministry of the prophet whose existence was questioned by non-believers.

Here, we begin an examination of the prayer which this prophet of God, who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel and was a prophet to the pagan king Jereboam II (786-746 BC). This is an amazing prayer which should shows up in Jonah 2, should be very important to Christians. Christ Himself mentioned Jonah in Matthew 12:40 "for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

We begin a closer look at the Prayer of Jonah, thus:
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord,  and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice....(Jonah 2:1-2)

This prayer is the first time we see the prophet actually operating in accordance with his calling as a man of God. Unfortunately it took the act of being thrown into the drink and being disciplined by God into the depths of the stomach of a large specially prepared sea creature to bring this element of worship out of the man. Sometimes we never know how much we need the Lord until we have gone under and stuck inside something closing in on us.

Jonah said "I called out of my distress to the Lord". As we go further into this incredible prayer, we see why the prophet was in distress in the first place....and it was as a result of his own actions. The good thing about the realization that 1. we are in super trouble and 2. we have the Supreme Ruler of the Universe on whom we can call AND this same Almighty God actually ANSWERS when we, His children, call out, cry out, petition in panic to Him and Him alone!

Now comes the stunner in verse 2 "I cried out for help from the depth of Sheol". No one goes to Sheol unless one has passed from this life unto death. Sheol is the abode of the dead and departed, which we now see, Jonah was. He drowned after being thrown off the ship that was bound for Tarshish (Chapter 1). This is more than interesting news. We have a man who has died crying out for help from the place of the dead, where, well nothing is alive! Yet the Lord heard Jonah's appeal!

NEXT: Jonah's Eyes Open

Graphic Credit: Christian Clip Art

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY THIRTEEN:

VERSE:

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world....John 16:33

PRAYER:

Father, oh Most Merciful and Compassionate God, Your children in far away lands are united in one thing - their love for Christ. This Love compels them to stand strong as their persecutors in the lands of the pagan religions of the Middle East, Asia, the Far East and the atheist countries of socialism oppress them. Lord our spiritual hearts and minds grieve for our brothers and sisters who are in constant tribulation and trials, sometimes by literal fire, but You are removing the dross now even as we pray.

Lord, even as they cry out in their pain and suffering, even as they plead for mercy and some human decency from the hoards of hell, let loose for over 1400 years now by those who follow moon gods, 300 millions non-existent idol "gods" or no god, You constantly hear their cries around Your Throne. You hear them because their pleadings and prayers have come before You rising as bowls of incense, as our High Priest Jesus intercedes for them and us.

We pray for Your saints persecuted in Nigeria as their schools and villages are burned down, and the world stays silent in the face of this evil. We pray for Christians in the old Bible lands of Nineveh (Mosul), Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and others in between the land of the Levant, that You deal with those who abuse Your people, in Your own way, in Your own time. We pray for those in the lands of India where You sent the Apostle Thomas and the millions there are told to convert to the hinduism and its idolatry or else. We pray for our brethren in China, whose millions now outnumber the godless and evil communist party in power there for over 60 years. 

May their tears become like a river of life to those of us in the west who pray for them who pray for their courage and boldness to hold up in the face of this rampaging evil. Lord, on behalf of these tribulation saints, we claim Your promise and Your exhortation, Lord Jesus that You have not only overcome the world, the god of this world, the systems of this world and the persecutors of this world who are unknowingly storing up wrath for themselves, but You give freely to those who seek favor, courage, mercy, love, hope, conviction and faith. We pray this day for all of that, from the Throne of Grace to those being constantly refined in the fire and for those of us, who have it within our power to pray and help, and yet stay silent or worse. We pray and ask and bow down before Your Throne, in Jesus' Strong and Mighty Name, amen.

EVER TELL GOD NO?

Christians are sometimes the most disobedient people around and even some of the Old Testament Bible heroes demonstrated it vividly for us. Who can forget the "Big Fish" story of Jonah, the Wayward Prophet who said "NO" when God said "GO"?  Another Bible hero - Peter - had the same kind of mind of his own, forgetting for Whom he worked. 

The story picks up in Acts 10, from verse 9:The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

Here is the man whom Christ told He was going to build the church open. Here was the man who said "YES" when Christ asked if he (Peter) loved Him. Here was the man told to go feed "the sheep"...thereby fulfilling the Great Commission and more...here was this man, and he flat out told the Lord Jesus, Adonai - NO!

Then note what verse 16 says "This was done three times", before the Lord took the sheet back up into heaven. Sometimes God has to hit us upside the head in order that we pay attention to His directives and commands! Sometimes we say YES when it is the most convenient and inside our own box, but when if we are asked to do something outside our comfort zone...well, if it is not an outright NO, it is hemming and hawing. I know first hand what saying NO does. Almost two decades ago, just a few years into ministry, my heart was not set on something I thought was too elementary for me to do. It was soon made clear to me, during a severe rainstorm, when my wipers suddenly went out and my first taste of Godly discipline pulled me back into alignment with the Will of Abba Father. We know the rest of this story with Peter from Acts 10- he obeyed, went to a Gentile's home (something forbidden by Jewish law); preached the Gospel to the Roman Centurion, his entire family and friend group - and they were all saved.

Jonah not only went to Nineveh and preached repentance so that over 100,000 (including the King) were saved after repentance, but he stayed and lived in that area, teaching and mentoring them in the Ways of Yahweh - the Great God of Heaven! When Jonah's grave was desecrated this past summer by islamic hordes in Mosul (Iraq), it proved yet another 3000 year old plus portion of the Bible.  Jonah even made it into a sermon by the Lord Jesus Himself. 

These two examples serves as perfect illustrations for the woman or man of God who is sometimes scared or unsure of their calling. It serves as examples of how initial knee-jerk reaction leading to outright disobedience can lead first to discipline, and even worse, before things eventually work out. In Jonah's case, he actually died because he said in Jonah 2 that the bars of death had closed around him. Fortunately God had other plans for Jonah and after gentle rebuke, Peter came around.  After my initial disobedience, I never looked back and now serve with gladness and gratitude at the Grace and Goodness of God. When we do this, much fruit and many will be brought into the Kingdom. All we need to do is to trust Him, even when He says something we absolutely do not wish to hear! The results will be out of this world and truly divine!

A PLEA FROM THE HEART - A TEACHING FROM PSALM 119

Psalm 119:169-176New King James Version (NKJV)

ת Tau

169 Let my cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
170 Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
171 My lips shall utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
172 My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your hand become my help,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise You;
And let Your judgments help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

HIS FAITHFULNESS IS TO ALL GENERATIONS

Remember your word to your servant,

    in which you have made me hope.

50 

This is my comfort in my affliction,

    that your promise gives me life.

51 

The insolent utterly deride me,

    but I do not turn away from your law.

52 

When I think of your rules from of old,

    I take comfort, O Lord.

53 

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,

    who forsake your law.

54 

Your statutes have been my songs

    in the house of my sojourning.

55 

I remember your name in the night, O Lord,

    and keep your law.

56 

This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts

Psalm 119:49-56 (ESV)

These are horrible times for the Faithful - the true Children of God, and those who are called by His Name. We see the product of the tolerance of demonic cults, where Christians (and Kurds etc) are being literally wiped out by islamic hordes in northern Iraq, the Biblical region of Nineveh and in the ancient mountains of Syria. The latter used to house the last remnants of those who spoke the biblical language of Aramaic.

While persecution has always been with the followers of Christ: from the original eleven disciples and Apostle Paul, to the early church fathers and those who bucked the Roman system until the Reformation of the Middle Ages, down to present, the vile nature of the current genocide is staggering. The west and western pastors/church leaders - from the American prosperity and purpose-driven proponents to the majority of liberal mainline apostates - are so silent (to their shame on day) that even the secularists are asking them about their silence. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said "'Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.".  But it is not enough to point out these things, Our part is to encourage the saints, pray for the persecuted and make sure that we are also in the Word and found in Him.

Psalm 119 in its entirety is such a wondrous ode to the Word of God and His Commands. But in these time of pain, persecution and peril, Verses 49-56 speak to us loudly, about the Promises and True Purposes Driven by God. He is the God of all Truth, Compassion, Comfort and Care and His mercies never fail. Great is His Faithfulness to us, to all generations. 

In the verses above, the Word says "when I think of Your rules of old, I take comfort, O Lord" and "Your statutes (Your Living Word) have been my songs...." Psalm 30:5 says "though weeping may last for a night, Joy cometh in the Morning". For many of our brothers and sisters, this does seem like the longest night and their earthly tomorrow may never come. But the Good News, which their persecutors cannot say is that the Saved of the Lord  - the True Christians - wake up on the other side of Glory, in the Presence of the Savior. As the old saying goes "this is as good as it is going to get for those in the world, this is as bad as it will get for the people of God"

Let not your heart be troubled, our Lord and Savior has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. For now, let's pray and support wherever and whenever we can. In Jesus' Name, amen.