When God Pulls Us From the Depths: Finding Hope in Prayer and Restoration

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:15:36] Trinity, let's go ahead and continue our worship service this morning with our opening hymn, How Great is Our God. Let's stand and worship Him in this place.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:15:48] Thank you so much worship team, choir, and church. Good morning Trinity Baptist Church, how we doing?

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:20:47] This is the day that the Lord has made. And we have gathered together to rejoice and be glad in it.
[00:20:54] no matter what you've walked through this week no matter how high the high was or how low the low was we can still sing how great is our God because he is unchanging amen amen well if you're visiting
[00:21:06] with us today my name is Robert and I have the honor and privilege of serving this church as their associate pastor under our beloved senior pastor our lead pastor Mark Harris who is away on
[00:21:16] another mission trip you got to keep him in your thoughts and prayers that is a very busy man indeed and if you are visiting with us we just want to let you know at the onset of this service
[00:21:25] at trinity baptist church our mission statement is really clear and powerful we seek to know jesus christ and make him known and we're so thankful that you've joined us whether you're joining us in person this morning or joining us online welcome into the sanctuary here at 221 urban
[00:21:39] road in mooresville north carolina we'd love to have you in person sometime but until then sing when we sing read god's word when we read pray when we pray you can even give when we give if
[00:21:50] you want to just as the lord leads um church you know i was thinking if you are a visitor today it's important that we get to know you a little bit and if you would be so kind as to simply just
[00:22:00] slip up your hand just high enough and long enough for us to see it we have a couple of deacons that would love to get a gift in your hand in that gift bag you're going to find several things that you
[00:22:11] want to take um take a hold of but one of the things we'd like for you to return in the offering plate it's just a little visitor card so that we can get to know you we sure would like that
[00:22:20] opportunity and as they're walking down the aisles and getting those gift bags in your hand you know it's there's probably no better way to start off any service than seeking the face of the lord so
[00:22:32] would you please join with me in prayer holy heavenly father god we're about to dedicate the entire sermon on one word.
[00:22:51] And that word is prayer.
[00:22:53] Father, You told us in Your Word that Your Father's house should be a house of prayer.
[00:23:00] And Father, in so many ways, a prayerless Christian should be an oxymoron.
[00:23:07] Thank You, Father, for the privilege of prayer.
[00:23:10] Thank You that we can call upon Your mighty name this morning.
[00:23:14] No matter what we've gone through last night.
[00:23:18] Father, thank You for the precious promises that are found in Your Word where you tell us that though sorrow may last for the night joy is found in the morning and lord we know that joy is ultimately found in jesus and we're thankful god for you sending him our way
[00:23:34] we're thankful for him being the way the truth and the light we're thankful to be able to run to him our refuge the great shepherd and overseer of our souls and father this morning as we have gathered
[00:23:49] together to do just what we've just seen to sing out praises to our king to magnify the messiah because he alone is worthy of all honor glory and praise help us in that endeavor lord the flesh is
[00:24:03] the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and father the it's the spirit who gives life the flesh is no help at all so help us this morning to worship you in spirit and in truth
[00:24:18] God you are spirit you've given us your Holy Spirit and your word is truth you've given us your word to serve as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path to be used in the very dark times
[00:24:31] that we face throughout the days we go through Lord thank you Father for your love thank you for your mercy and your grace that's new every morning Lord we long to cherish it today Father we
[00:24:47] lift all these prayers before your throne of grace In the mighty and the matchless name of Jesus Christ, our Messiah, amen.
[00:24:56] Well, if you happen to have children with you in just a few moments, Sister Terry should be opening up the doors, and we have child care available, nursery, all the way to third grade.
[00:25:04] But why don't we take a moment just to welcome each other into the sanctuary this morning.
[00:25:08] Thank you.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:25:08] Good morning, church.

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:33:35] We thank you for being here today, and we thank those who are online.
[00:33:41] We welcome them.
[00:33:42] We thank them for their participation, and we thank them for their support.
[00:33:48] For those of you who are joining us for the first time, we ask you to go to trinitybaptist.com and you can continue to lend your support to this ministry.
[00:34:01] Thank you all for being here in the house of the Lord.
[00:34:03] Let us pray.
[00:34:06] Holy Father, you are God the Father, you are God the Son, and you are God the Holy Spirit.
[00:34:14] the Lord our God is one and Jesus Christ is our God to him be the glory and the power forever and ever Holy Father as you take us down this journey to Golgotha let us reflect upon
[00:34:33] and meditate on and rededicate our lives to the one who gave his life on that cross of glory for the salvation of our souls.
[00:34:45] Holy Father, we give you thanks.
[00:34:48] Endless is your mercy, eternal is your reign.
[00:34:52] Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[00:34:55] How great a God we have.
[00:34:57] O Lord Jesus, thank you, Lord.
[00:35:01] Lord, with one heart and with one mind, we come to you this day to confess to you the wrongs that we have done.
[00:35:09] forgive us Lord your word says if we come to you and confess our sin our God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins therefore Lord with one heart we present that with
[00:35:27] cheerfulness our gifts and our offerings to you to be used for the furtherance of your kingdom here in this community and beyond Holy Father, guide each one of us.
[00:35:42] Take care of this congregation and those who are online.
[00:35:46] Bless those, Lord.
[00:35:48] We ask your healing power upon all those who are ill.
[00:35:51] For those who have gone before, give them eternal rest.
[00:35:55] For those celebrating anniversaries and birthdays, continue to bless us all, Lord.
[00:36:01] For we ask this in the mighty and precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the living Christ.
[00:36:08] Amen.

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:36:50] thank you so much choir for that very powerful song and what a true statement all honor glory

[00:41:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:41:19] and praise belongs to him alone and thank you brother roy for the the prayer it's not very often you get a illustration before the sermon preaching on prayer and brother you showed us what it looks like so thank you for that well church uh last week i'll be honest i was really
[00:41:42] blessed to hear from many of you regarding my opening question. Several of you actually surprised me in a number of ways. You kind of sought me out throughout the week, and you told me the last time that you heard God speaking into your life, and I was really blessed by a lot of
[00:42:03] your responses. I'm not sure what surprised me more, to be honest with you. I mean, the incredible answers that you shared with me were the fact that you were actually listening enough to remember and follow up uh some of y'all would catch me off guard you would just
[00:42:17] it was this and i was like what what was what and then i had oh the question thank you thank you so it was it was really intriguing but in light of all this i figured i might as well ask another
[00:42:30] question this morning because last time went so well and this time this time you're going to have to answer it in life group so make sure you're paying attention for those of you who go to life
[00:42:39] group make sure you're ready for it you guys ready all right making sure you're paying attention if jesus was physically present in this room i know he's spiritually present but if he was physically present in this room right now how would you respond if jesus i don't know let's
[00:43:09] say he's sitting three or four pews down the road from you i'm sitting right there what would you do would you even notice him sitting there you know we've had some pretty important people walk through the halls of this church we've had super bowl champions we've had nascar champions
[00:43:33] we've had famous actors musicians we've even had some famous and well-known political leaders here from time to time some of them even took the time to go out in the lobby after service and questions from the crowds which made me wonder if jesus were standing out in the foyer after
[00:43:57] service today would there be a line would people want to speak with him and if jesus gave each and every one of us there's probably 300 so or or more here today if jesus gave each of us just
[00:44:15] one opportunity to ask just one question what would that question be what would you ask jesus you know you could ask him to walk down the street with you you could walk down the edge
[00:44:33] there of lake norman you can say jesus please teach me how to walk on water you could ask him how to end world hunger teaching you how to feed multitudes with next to nothing you could ask him
[00:44:49] how to clear out the hospitals you could go around healing the the blind the death the lame from every disease you could ask him to put the funeral homes out of business literally going around to the graves of your loved ones and raising the dead he could teach you literally
[00:45:15] anything you ever wanted to know about any subject do you believe that is he not our omniscient rabbi but you know the disciples got that opportunity one day they got their opportunity to ask jesus anything do you know what their question was it's the only place in the entire
[00:45:37] bible that it records the disciples ever asking jesus to teach them anything do you know what they asked him to teach them that day you'll find your answer in luke chapter 11 verse 1 now jesus was praying in a certain place and when he had finished praying one of his disciples
[00:46:04] walked up to him and said lord teach us to pray lord teach us how to pray like that why why was that out of all the questions they could have asked him out of all the things they would have
[00:46:27] asked him to help them learn how to do why was it the one thing that they asked him was to learn how to pray i believe the passage we're going to look at this morning holds our answer today you're going
[00:46:43] to get a sneak peek into it into the prayer life of jonah you're going to see a very intimate time in his life where he's pouring out his heart before the lord in prayer and i believe as we do
[00:46:56] this as a church today god's going to teach us why prayer should hold such a priority in our lives Are you guys ready to hear from God's Word?
[00:47:09] Well, if so, would you please stand out of the honor of reading out of it?
[00:47:18] Behold the Word of the Lord.
[00:47:24] 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.
[00:47:38] Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
[00:47:42] For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.
[00:47:47] and the flood surrounded me all of your breakers and your waves passed over me then i said i'm driven away from your sight yet i shall again look upon your holy temple the waters closed in over me
[00:48:08] to take my life the deep surrounded me weeds were wrapped around my head to the roots of the mountains i went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever yet you brought up my life
[00:48:26] from the pit oh lord my god when my life was fading 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
[00:48:41] 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 on the dry
[00:49:02] land and then the word of the lord came to jonah the second time saying arise go to nineveh that great city and call out against it the message that i tell you so jonah arose and he went to
[00:49:23] Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city three days journey and breath Jonah began to go into the city go on a day's journey and he called out
[00:49:36] yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown and the people of Nineveh believed God they called for a fast and they put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them church let
[00:49:57] us pray holy heavenly father we thank you for your word we thank you for your spirit that guides us through it lord you are the master rabbi teach us here in this moment it truly is your holy spirit
[00:50:15] that gives life the flesh is no help at all so give us your holy spirit lord father i personally pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable in your sight
[00:50:25] oh lord our rock and our redeemer we ask this in your mighty name and all god's people said amen thank you may be seated friends if i could condense this entire sermon down into just one sentence i want to share it with you right now at the onset i believe the bible
[00:50:56] is showing us today that from the depths of our deepest pits christ hears our prayers he restores our hearts and he pulls us out again i want to say that one more time from the depths of our deepest
[00:51:18] pit, Christ hears our prayers, restores our hearts, and he pulls us out again. Now, I don't know about you guys, but some of the best prayers in my life have taken place in some of the worst places.
[00:51:39] I think Jonah would agree. I mean, just look at the situation we find him in right here at the onset of this chapter today. And as we do, I want you to consider what the Bible has to say
[00:51:50] about the place of prayer, the place of prayer. In these five verses, we're going to see prayer taking place in three distinct, unique locations, some of which will surprise you. I know that because they surprised me. The first being this, prayer takes place in the belly. Prayer takes
[00:52:19] place in the belly verses one and two then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish saying I cried out to the Lord out of my distress and he answered me out of the belly
[00:52:36] of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice now I'm sure a lot of us have been in some pretty fishy situations, right? But I think Jonah's here takes the cake, if you ask me. I mean, he's letting out
[00:52:53] a gut-wrenching cry, not just from the belly of a fish. He's in the belly of the sea. The Bible says he's in the belly of Sheol itself as he cries out before the Lord. Jonah, Jonah is in one of the
[00:53:12] worst places anyone could have ever possibly been. But here's the amazing thing this morning.
[00:53:23] God hears him.
[00:53:31] What does that show us about God's grace?
[00:53:35] Church, it tells me there's no place you could ever run.
[00:53:38] There's no place you could ever hide to get away from the love of God.
[00:53:42] It tells me there's no situation too dark, no pit too deep, no distance too far, where God's love can't find you.
[00:53:52] Where God cannot hear your prayers.
[00:53:57] I'm going to be honest.
[00:53:58] I don't care how far you've ran.
[00:54:02] I don't care how low you've sank.
[00:54:05] I don't care how deep you've dug.
[00:54:07] I don't care how bad you stank or how bad you think you are.
[00:54:13] It doesn't matter.
[00:54:17] The Bible says it doesn't matter.
[00:54:19] When we are at our worst, church, God is always at His best.
[00:54:27] His love is unchanging.
[00:54:32] Let me ask you something.
[00:54:33] And I want you to answer this one in the secret places of your heart.
[00:54:41] Think back for a moment.
[00:54:44] Think back to your darkest moment in life.
[00:54:48] Think back to the lowest point in your battle with sin that you've ever had.
[00:54:53] I'm talking about a moment so embarrassing.
[00:54:56] If I had it on a CD and I gave it to our technicians to play, and they played it on the screen behind me, you would be mortified.
[00:55:05] You would be completely embarrassed.
[00:55:06] You would feel so embarrassed that you wouldn't mind switching places with Jonah for a little while.
[00:55:15] I know that's painful, but I want you to remember that right now.
[00:55:20] Have you got that moment?
[00:55:27] If you do, good.
[00:55:29] Because I want you to run it through with this truth.
[00:55:33] God did not love you any less in that moment than He does right now.
[00:55:39] sitting in this pew listening to this sermon and your sunday best with a bible in your hand do you believe that what gives me the right to say something so incredible what gives me the
[00:55:58] right to make such an incredible statement this morning because of an incredible promise found in god's word it's a promise that even the little children down the hall can sing jesus loves me this i know for the bible for the bible tells me so church have you read romans 5 8
[00:56:23] but god chose his love for us and that while we were still sinners at our worst what god do he gave us his best christ died for us have you read romans 8 38 i am sure that neither death nor life
[00:56:39] nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of God's creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God,
[00:56:54] including your sin, including my sin.
[00:57:01] You see, the belly of Sheol was never meant to be Jonah's cemetery.
[00:57:07] It was never meant to be his grave.
[00:57:10] It was meant to be his classroom of grace, where God began to fill Jonah's belly with lessons of his love.
[00:57:22] I guess the saying's true.
[00:57:24] The way to a man's heart really is through his stomach.
[00:57:29] And that's the next place we find ourselves.
[00:57:32] That's the next place we see prayer taking place.
[00:57:35] Look in verse 3.
[00:57:37] It doesn't just happen in the belly.
[00:57:39] It happens in the heart.
[00:57:43] In verse 3, Jonah says, You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.
[00:57:48] And the flood surrounded me.
[00:57:51] All your breakers and your waves, they passed over me.
[00:57:56] Here Jonah is, in the heart of the sea, pouring out his heart before the Lord.
[00:58:05] He acknowledges where he is, and he acknowledges how he got there.
[00:58:10] He clearly expresses that the sovereign hand of God played a vital role in his circumstances that he now finds himself in.
[00:58:19] Listen carefully to how Jonah describes it.
[00:58:23] God, you cast me into the deep.
[00:58:28] All of your breakers and your waves passed over me.
[00:58:36] In his heart of hearts, Jonah was fully aware of who is in control of this situation.
[00:58:43] You know what I think?
[00:58:43] I think God is a gentleman.
[00:58:46] I really do.
[00:58:47] I think God's a gentleman.
[00:58:48] And God being the gentleman that he is, he said, Jonah, you wanted to run to the waters.
[00:58:53] Well, guess what, buddy?
[00:58:54] You've got him.
[00:58:59] I believe this serves as a sobering reminder for us today.
[00:59:02] we need to be very careful what we wish for because god just might give it to you but then again i i remember romans 8 28 that precious promise comes to mind because god is up to
[00:59:19] something in the heart of jonah by placing him in the heart of the sea you know i think god was using those waves to wash jonah's heart and heart jonah acknowledges the hand of the lord is clearly
[00:59:34] at work in his life because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak but friends i want you to listen to me this morning it's not just jonah whose heart needs a little working
[00:59:49] on from time to time i want all of us in this room myself included to take to heart the truths found in god's word today and maybe maybe god's hand is making waves in your life and if he is
[01:00:03] maybe he's trying to do a little work in your heart as well this morning i'm reminded by the words of one of the greatest baptist preachers the world has ever known charles haddon spurgeon this is what he had to say about the waves in his life i have learned to kiss the waves
[01:00:25] that cast me upon the rock of ages but you know it's not just the belly or the heart that these prayers will flow from as we continue through their text today god's word says it also takes
[01:00:39] place in our head takes place in our head you'll see that in verses four through five jonah claims to be driven away from the side of the lord yet then again he says i will look at
[01:00:54] your holy temple the waters they closed over me to take my life the deep surrounded me listen to this last part weeds were wrapped around my head i i love this part of the story i don't know about
[01:01:15] you, but I know in my life I get confused and I get frightened. Some of you might know what I'm talking about when FUD starts to grab a hold of you. You ever heard of FUD? You guys don't know
[01:01:30] what I'm talking about, do you? You never heard of FUD? Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Now you know what I'm talking about. When FUD starts to grab a hold of old Jonah, it starts pulling him down
[01:01:46] to his watery grave right when he thinks that that all hope is lost that's when god begins to use his prayers to confront his distorted thinking here's the truth of the matter hear this this is
[01:02:03] good stuff prayer brings truth to our drowning thoughts prayer brings truth to our drowning thoughts prayer brings truth and clarity to our drowning and distorted thinking one moment jonah thinks he'll be driven away from god's presence forever the next minute in the midst of his
[01:02:28] prayers god encourages him that he will one day yet again look upon his holy temple it's not just the wind and the waves that are tossing jonah back and forth church it's his thought life
[01:02:45] he found himself drowning in it which is why prayer played such a vital role in saving him that day prayer is our life preserver to help us through our sinking thinking you know when i was
[01:03:06] reading this passage i couldn't help but my mind was just fixated on verse five it literally just stuck in my head. At the end of verse 5, Jonah says, weeds were wrapped around my head.
[01:03:25] Isn't that just like the devil? To try to use weeds, the weeds of this world, to choke out the life right out of our thought life. To try to wrap those old, ugly, worldly weeds around our eyes
[01:03:41] so we can't see clearly. Around our ears so we can't hear clearly. Around our heads so we can't think clearly around our mouths so we can't talk clearly why would the devil do that maybe because he doesn't want you calling out for help because if you do he would have to flee
[01:04:08] jesus warned us about this in matthew 13 28 did he not in the parable of the wheat in the tears what did he say one day an enemy will come and he will try to plant weeds seeds of doubt in the
[01:04:24] hearts and minds of god's people i'm talking about those weeds of worry those weeds that can be so tangling so devastating so detrimental if we're not careful how can they be avoided church you just need a little roundup and it's found in the bottle of prayer it's found in our prayers
[01:04:56] isn't it fascinating when we stop and think about it all the places where prayer takes place in the life of a believer, in the belly, in the heart, and in the head. And while we've touched on this
[01:05:09] briefly, I want to take a few extra moments to really drive home not just the places where prayer is found, but the purpose for why it's happening there. So let's continue to dive a little deeper as we consider not just the place of prayer, but the purpose of prayer. And you'll
[01:05:30] see that in verses six through nine i found it amazing that prayer is found in three places and it's also for three purposes the first one being this it puts a hunger in your belly puts a hunger
[01:05:48] in your belly you see that in verse six and seven to the roots of the mountains i went down says jonah to the land whose bars closed upon me forever yet you brought up my life from the pit
[01:06:03] oh lord my god when my life was fainting away i remembered the lord and my prayer came to you into your holy temple in verse 6 jonah finds himself at an all-time low he's sinking down
[01:06:19] to the very roots of the mountains down to what feels like the point of no return he had dug himself into a pit so deep he thought he would never escape and some of you some of us myself
[01:06:35] included know exactly what that feels like it's the pit of failure it's the pit of shame it's the pit of consequences often the ones that we've created it's the pit where our prayers feel weak our god seems small our problems seem big seems like there's no way out and yet here's the
[01:07:05] thing in the worst pits that we find ourselves in god does his best work teaching us some amazing powerful truths i mean see see what i believe is i believe that prayer is the rope of hope
[01:07:26] that god uses to pull us out of the darkness i believe i believe that prayer is the rope of hope that we would grab onto so that the Lord can literally pull us out of that pit of sin and shame and sorrow.
[01:07:46] Make sure you don't miss this, friends.
[01:07:48] Don't misunderstand this.
[01:07:50] Prayer is not you climbing out of that pit.
[01:07:54] Prayer is you taking hold of the rope of God's hope that He lowered down to you so that He can pull you up to Him.
[01:08:04] That's how it works.
[01:08:05] he's the one on the other line sustaining you empowering you with his grace in your times of deepest need that's why church prayer is our lifeline you know i've heard the belly described as a bottomless pit and for those of you who have teenagers you probably would agree
[01:08:30] but here in this pit we see a different kind of hunger being formed in jonah's belly he's no longer hungry for the things of the world, he's starting to regain his appetite for God's Word. He's
[01:08:46] starting to regain his appetite for the bread of heaven. A true spiritual hunger is starting to return to Jonah. In fact, I wonder if you know this. I found this absolutely amazing. In the eight short verses we'll read today covering the prayer of Jonah, did you know that he references
[01:09:04] over a dozen different psalms nearly word for word maybe in your quiet time you can look them all up and study them i love that about jonah after he ran from god to other things after god stripped
[01:09:24] away everything that he could run to when he finally came to the end of himself he had nothing else to run to nothing else to cling to and all he wanted to do in that moment was run back to god
[01:09:38] all he wanted to do was cling to the precious promises found in god's word all he desperately longed for in that moment was for god's presence to be back again in his life when he was cast
[01:09:57] into the waters of the deep a hunger for god came flooding back into his life in that moment when he had nothing else to stand on he found himself starting to regain his footing on the
[01:10:11] rock-solid promises of God's Word. Praying the very promises back to God, reminding himself of God's goodness, of God's mercy, and of God's grace. He said so himself in verse 7, I remember the Lord. Jonah had to remember the Lord. What helped to refresh his memory?
[01:10:38] God's Word. God's Word and prayer. His prayer came back up to God's holy temple, and God used this time of prayer to reignite a flame way down deep in the belly of Jonah and he regained his
[01:10:53] appetite for God's presence in his life but God was at work in other places not just his belly putting the hunger but he also was busy putting humility back in his heart you see that in verse
[01:11:09] eight prayer the purpose of prayer it puts humility in your heart in verse eight Jonah says those who pay regard to vain idols, forsake their hope of steadfast love. Can I share a truth with you?
[01:11:29] Prayer often begins where pride ends. I want to say that again. Prayer often begins where pride ends. Why is that? Because prayer is how we express our dependency upon God. And church, If that is the case, then what does your prayer life say about you?
[01:12:02] What does it say about me?
[01:12:06] Here God is using prayer for the purpose of putting humility back into the heart of Jonah.
[01:12:10] Now so many people get this mixed up.
[01:12:12] So many people misunderstand humility.
[01:12:15] They misunderstand what it really means.
[01:12:19] Humility isn't thinking less of yourself, is it?
[01:12:23] It's thinking of yourself less often.
[01:12:28] Throughout this story, right up until now, Jonah had little regard for anyone else in his life.
[01:12:35] If they're not an Israelite, who cares about them?
[01:12:39] Unless they walk like me, talk like me, look like me, worship like me, I could care less about them.
[01:12:48] But here, in verse 8, God starts to soften his heart for others.
[01:12:58] Why is that?
[01:13:00] Maybe because it was only when Jonah was reminded of his own need for God in his life that he became willing to start sharing Him with others.
[01:13:10] He found himself in a very similar situation as the people of Nineveh, fallen from grace, in need of salvation, in the midst of being lost out at sea.
[01:13:22] He began to understand that anyone who turns away from the Lord is guilty of the same thing.
[01:13:30] it's called idolatry and the wages of any sin no matter how big or how small is the same what's the wages of sin church it's death and in this moment jonah justly deserved to die right then
[01:13:50] and there and he knew it but the hope of god's steadfast love came flooding back in to jonah's heart in his mind when he needed it most for at that very moment God was beginning to put
[01:14:09] not just humility in Jonah's heart God was also starting to put hope back in Jonah's head that's the other thing prayer does it puts hope in your head look in verse 9 but I with the voice
[01:14:29] of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you what i have vowed i will pay salvation belongs to the lord it's here church in this very moment when jonah starts renewing his mind with god's word through prayer that he comes to a very few critical conclusions in his life first being this
[01:14:56] jonah believed in his heart of hearts that he was going to get out of that situation He believed that he would once again offer up to God not just the sacrifices of his lips, but the sacrifices of his life.
[01:15:16] And secondly, church, I don't want you to miss this one, so I'm gonna give it to you like a good old Southern Baptist would.
[01:15:22] You ready for it?
[01:15:24] It's right there in that moment where Jonah decides to rededicate his life to God.
[01:15:34] He's essentially saying, Lord, I told you long ago that I'd be your man.
[01:15:38] I told you that I'd go anywhere you wanted me to go.
[01:15:41] I'd do anything that you wanted me to do.
[01:15:45] God, I gave you my any time, my any place, and my anywhere.
[01:15:52] And well, Lord, today in this moment, I'm putting my yes back on the table with you.
[01:16:03] Jonah confesses that salvation ultimately belongs to the Lord, and there's not a single thing he can do about it.
[01:16:11] You see, before, Jonah was trying to control who gained access to heaven.
[01:16:15] but here God reminds him that salvation is a gift and it's not for you to decide who's worthy of it because in all reality none of us are worthy of it it's only by God's grace you see God was
[01:16:39] trying to teach old Jonah the same thing he's trying to teach you and me it's not just the place of prayer and the purpose of prayer that God's after he's after this last all so important
[01:16:51] thing. As we close out our time together today, I want you to consider most of all the power of prayer. The power of prayer. You know, I once heard an old preacher say, the only place on earth where
[01:17:11] power can be found before prayer is in the English dictionary. You believe that? If you do, what's so powerful about prayer? Well, for one, prayer empowers redemption. Prayer empowers redemption.
[01:17:30] Look in verse 10, verse 1.
[01:17:34] And the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited out Jonah on the beach.
[01:17:39] And then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying.
[01:17:46] You know, right after Jonah finished speaking to God, God started speaking to that fish.
[01:17:53] And the Bible doesn't soften this at all.
[01:17:55] I love this.
[01:17:55] It tells us that the fish vomited Jonah out onto the beach.
[01:18:03] Probably should have warned you.
[01:18:05] sometimes prayer gets a little messy um but i mean can you just imagine what a sight that must have been not a pretty picture at all definitely not as beautiful as the first verse you see in chapter
[01:18:18] three it's a glorious picture of redemption it says that the word of the lord came to jonah a second time church aren't you glad we serve a god who gives second chances now whereas in my
[01:18:36] case seventh eighth and ninth chances i mean just put yourself in jonah's sandals put yourself in his in his sandals right there standing out on the beach for a moment the the whale just barfed
[01:18:50] you up you spent three days and three nights in pitch dark black blackness when god comes when god's word comes to you a second time are you really going to say ah no thanks god that three
[01:19:06] night cruise wasn't so bad i think i'll just hang out at the beach church in the words of our beloved pastor pastor mark harris quoted from a sermon almost a year ago friend don't be an idiot
[01:19:24] had to quote him so i don't get in trouble when he comes back god had given jonah a golden opportunity it was an opportunity he wasn't going to miss the grace of god through prayer didn't
[01:19:44] just grant Jonah an opportunity for redemption it granted him an opportunity for repentance church prayer empowers repentance you see that in verse two and three God said arise go to Nineveh that great city and call out against it the message that I tell you so what did Jonah do
[01:20:04] he listened he arose and he went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was a great city. Three days journey in breath. Here's the fascinating truth about prayer. In church it is far too precious for you to miss. So please catch this. Don't miss this. Why should
[01:20:29] a Christian pray? Why pray? Well besides the fact that God commands it and besides the fact that God loves to hear his little children call out to him, here's a big truth for you today. You ready for
[01:20:48] this? Prayer changes things. Do you believe that? Prayer changes things. But don't miss this. Don't get confused. Prayer does not change God. I want you to hear that. God is immutable. I mean, do you
[01:21:16] really think for a moment you're going to change God's mind? Do you really think that you're going to tell God something that he doesn't already know. Do you really think that you're going to come up with a better idea or a better plan? Some of you might be thinking, well, wait a second,
[01:21:42] Pastor Robert. I mean, you just said moments ago that prayer changes things. What do you mean?
[01:21:49] That's right, I did. Prayer does change things, but it doesn't change God. Church, prayer changes me prayer changes you prayer changes us the bible tells us that the word of the lord came to jonah
[01:22:08] the same way it did the first time nearly word for word what was different this time not god's word god's word stayed the same it was jonah jonah was different god's heart had always been the same take the gospel to the nations but jonah's heart was what changed jonah's
[01:22:40] heart became softened to that call and that powerful was repentance was only made possible because of the power through prayer if you ever want to know what happens when a church gets their heart right when god's people get their heart right when they go to him in prayer look no further than
[01:23:02] the final two verses you see prayer doesn't just empower redemption it doesn't just empower repentance prayer also empowers revival it empowers revival you see that in verses four and five jonah began to go into the city going a day's journey and he called out against it yet 40 days
[01:23:30] and nineveh shall be overthrown and the people of nineveh they believed god they called for a fast they put on sackcloth from the greatest of them all the way to the least of them now here's a
[01:23:47] beautiful truth for a baptist church to consider especially right about right now one of the greatest revivals in the pages of history came from one of the shortest sermons ever preached just five words in the original hebrew i was worried i was gonna get some amens
[01:24:08] what's God trying to tell us God's trying to tell us the power is not in Jonas preaching it was in Jonas praying the message wasn't found to be powerful because it was long it was powerful
[01:24:28] because it contained God's word the lost people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord and they put feet to their faith they expressed outwardly what God was doing inwardly because faith without works is dead from the greatest of them to the least of them they set their faces together
[01:24:50] collectively to seek the lord and one of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen was built upon the same tools the church has access to today the word of the lord and prayer you know in john piper's book called desiring god he addresses a very common misconception about
[01:25:23] prayer he says the church gets confused with prayer they see it as a domestic intercom calling upstairs for more comforts from our cosmic bellhop like god is some kind of vending machine or Santa Claus. That's completely missing the mark of true Christian prayer. Church prayer
[01:25:50] is to be our wartime walkie-talkie, where the people of God call out to their commander-in-chief and beg him to send reinforcements. Perhaps many of us for far too long have been calling out for more comfort. And in the pursuit of that comfort, perhaps we have lost sight of the war
[01:26:17] that's being waged the battle that's being fought on the battlegrounds of every heart for human souls and you know it's a sad truth i think countless churches would agree throughout the week what's the lowest attended minute a point of ministry is it not when they devote that time to
[01:26:43] prayer why is that i think i know why because in made in every major conflict the enemy's goal is the same the first thing the enemy ever wants to do at the onset of any war is this to sever
[01:27:03] the lines of communication between soldiers and their leaders so let me ask you something this morning church when is the last time that you prayed i'm not talking about a little short bedtime prayer a little 15 second bless this food amen church when is the last time that you got
[01:27:31] down on your knees and poured out your heart to god church if i'm honest i felt like here lady here lately we've been attacked on multiple fronts at times it feels like we're outmanned and we're outgunned by the enemy in church i personally believe today it's high time that
[01:27:54] we corporately and collectively call in some reinforcements now time won't allow for us to to cover every single thing this church is facing right now. Many of you have loved ones in the hospital, whether it be a heart surgery or a hip surgery. Many of you are still grieving the loss
[01:28:20] of a loved one. We had a funeral in here just yesterday. Got a text message this morning that one of our dear sisters in Christ's mother just passed away. Some of you are just like Jonah.
[01:28:34] Some of you are in need of redemption, in need of repentance, in need of revival in your life, in need of a new hunger for God.
[01:28:46] Some of you could use a little humility in your heart towards others.
[01:28:51] Some of you could use a little hope from God.
[01:28:56] Whatever it is you're going through this morning, I want to give you a chance to call in a little air support.
[01:29:04] If your heart is clear this morning and you've got nothing on your mind, could you take a little personal prayer prompt from me?
[01:29:14] Would you please pray for TCA?
[01:29:16] Would you please pray for Trinity Christian Academy?
[01:29:20] that God would help us launch that great missional endeavor right here in the heart of Mooresville, North Carolina, the enemy has made it pretty clear he does not want to see another military base established in Mooresville
[01:29:37] where knights can come and be trained up to serve the king.
[01:29:47] So church, in this place, for this purpose, would you please seek God's power through prayer?
[01:29:55] I've asked the musicians to help guide us through a time of corporate prayer and church I want you to respond how the Lord leads we saw today in the message that prayer doesn't necessarily take place
[01:30:09] at an altar or a pew it happens in the belly in the heart and in the head if you want to come and fill this altar you're welcome to do so if you want to pray right there in your pew
[01:30:18] you're more than welcome to do so we're just going to have time right now to seek the Lord in prayer I want to do a little practicing of what we just preached.
[01:30:30] Let's go to Lord in prayer.

[01:30:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:30:32] Christ, I'll be standing up here to welcome you in

[01:34:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:34:31] and to help guide your time through maybe becoming a member of the church or just whatever the Lord's putting in on your heart in this moment as you've been praying.
[01:34:39] Maybe the Lord's stirring you to be a member of this church.
[01:34:41] Maybe the Lord is placing on your heart to become a child of God for the first time.
[01:34:48] We're going to sing just one or two lines of the song, but if the Lord is moving in your heart in any way, I want to allow this opportunity for that can we stand and sing

[01:34:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:34:55] amen thank you so much church for

[01:36:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:36:46] gathering together to worship our Lord and risen Savior today and I hope that you are blessed by his word through prayer let's be a people of prayer as we close out today brother Trevor will have our benediction and prayer and we look
[01:36:58] forward to gathering together tonight for life groups thank you God bless

[01:37:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:37:02] yes thank you pastor Robert for that powerful message church family I want to remind you as our service comes to a close, even though our service is coming to a close, that doesn't mean ministry
[01:37:14] does not. So if you need prayer or you want to talk through something, Pastor Robert's going to be out there. Pastor Grant's going to be around. I'm going to be around. People in your seat would
[01:37:23] love to talk and pray with you. So I just want to encourage you with that. This morning, Pastor Robert talked about the Lord's Prayer from Luke 11. But I'm going to read, and I hope you will
[01:37:34] join me because I know many of you have this memorized in your hearts, but Matthew chapter 6, the Lord's Prayer, and I pray that you guys will join me in praying this prayer together. It says
[01:37:48] this, pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[01:38:01] Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us of our trespasses, as we forgive them that and lead us not into temptation, but forgive us of evil. Let's pray in power and the glory forever and ever.
[01:38:20] Let's pray. Amen. Let's pray.
[01:38:22] Lord Jesus, thank you for this powerful message on prayer this morning.
[01:38:26] Lord, I pray that Trinity Baptist would be be known as a church that falls on their knees and worships you, Lord Jesus. Lord, I pray that we would be a church known for our prayers. And Lord, I pray that this week we would fall at your
[01:38:40] feet. We would come to you. Lord, if there's anyone hurting this week, this morning, Lord, that we would be able to lift them up in prayer. Lord, I pray that we would go out and share this
[01:38:50] love with one another. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.