Our Wednesday Evening Message for March 8, 2023

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                               "A Prayer of Selfishness"

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                                     Text: Jonah 4: 1-4

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In our Wednesday night Bible study, we are walking you through the various prayers found in the Old and New Testament. There are 100 of them found in your Bible.

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In this study, we focus on the last prayer we see in the book of Jonah. This prayer comes after God has delivered Jonah from the belly of the great fish, and has sent a revival to all the citizens of Nineveh. Jonah had a prejudice against the Ninevites, and wanted God not to save the city from His judgment. Although his preaching resulted in an entire city getting saved, he still was bitter against God for saving the city.

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Jonah's theology was correct but not his heart. He told God in his prayer,"Did I not tell you before I fled to Tarshish that you would not pass judgment on these Nievites for all the evil that they have done. I knew you are a gracious, merciful God that is slow to anger, and you are kind to sinners." (Jonah 4:1)

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Jonah knew who God is, a God who does not want to judge sinners for their sins. God would rather show compassion to sinners than pass out His judgment. In Peter's writing, we are told this of God's nature. Peter says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."(II Peter 3:9)  However, since God is a holy God, he has to judge sin if sinners fail to repent. His holiness requires this.

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So in our text, we see the second time Jonah prayed. In this second prayer, we are able to look into Jonah's heart. So, what do we see? We see a selfish servant's heart. We see a heart controlled by self with no room for God and doing His will. Jonah's first prayer when he was in the fish's belly came from a broken heart, but his second one came from a selfish angry heart. Jonah was so angry he asked God to take his life.

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Think about it! In Jonah's first prayer, he asked God to save his life being in the fish's belly, but in the second one, he asked God to take his life. Simply put, Jonah would rather die if he could not have his own way instead of doing God's will.

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How about you, my friend, what kind of heart do you have? Are you like Jonah and would rather have it your way instead of  doing it God's way? As Jonah says, our God has a heart for sinners. So, come to Him today with your prayers. He cares for you!

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​                                                          Pastor Michael R. Martin

 

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