Well, we have completed our series on the book of Jonah, but as I was thinking and praying about what to move on to next for our next series, I was struck by a theme in Jonah that we touched on as we went through the book, but I thought it'd be very helpful after a time of prayer and reflection to focus on that theme we saw again but in more depth. And that theme in the book of Jonah that's modeled and at the same time neglected is prayer. And especially in chapter two. As we've noticed several times in the course of our series, Jonah is ultimately about the greater than Jonah. As our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 12 says, this book, this prophecy, this man's work is all about prayer. Matthew chapter 12, beginning at verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas. And behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. We saw how not only the Mariners but the people of Nineveh repented. The gospel came to the Gentiles and Jonah, the Jewish zealot who had previously been a faithful prophet as we saw from the book of Kings, did not want God to be merciful to those who were not Jews. He was angry about it even unto death. and God instructed him and by his grace us that we ought to trust in the Lord, delight in him and to whom he chooses to show mercy. It's the same rebuke really that the Pharisees and Sadducees received by the Lord Jesus, that we would trust in him and his work of salvation as he chooses to administer to it whichever people he would see fit. But having briefly reviewed the book of Jonah, having briefly seen that it's about our Lord Jesus Christ again, let's turn to some lessons in prayer. Lessons in prayer. And lessons in prayer from, you might say, two different people, as one person directs us to the other. First, some lessons in prayer from Jonah. From Jonah. And then, lessons in prayer from the greater than Jonah. May the Lord add his blessing to this reflection on this book and our series as a whole we've considered. Well, there are several lessons from Jonah we can learn about prayer. Please turn with me firstly to Jonah chapter one, verse three. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to Tarshish and he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Do you see what that teaches us about prayer? You may wonder, well, what does it teach us about prayer? It doesn't talk about prayer at all there. And that is the point. That is the point. The first thing we need to note about prayer from the book of Jonah is don't ever not pray. Don't ever not pray. The Lord commissioned Jonah, the Lord commanded Jonah. He sent Jonah to do a task. And it was a task he didn't wanna do. So what does Jonah do? He chooses not to pray and goes his own way. Imagine if the book of Jonah had recorded here a prayer where he cries out to God, where he says, I don't like this, where he says, I don't understand, where he says, help me to submit my mind and my heart to thy word and thy will. Imagine how this book would be different. Imagine how Jonah would be even so much more likely greater than Jonah. If I had like our Lord Jesus Christ, he had freely gone to his heavenly Father and said, if this cup could pass from me, but not my will, but thy will be done. First lesson about prayer from the book of Jonah, don't ever not pray. Boys and girls, always pray. Whatever circumstance, whether it's one you like, whether it's one you don't, whether something's hard, whether something's easy, it doesn't make a difference, always pray. Don't ever not pray. And that includes in particular, when you may be prompted, perhaps by the Holy Spirit, perhaps by the Spirit bringing the word of God to your mind, perhaps by an impression or a conviction that we should really pray right now. Whether you're with someone in public, whether you're with someone in private, whether you're with your family, whether you're by yourself, it doesn't make a difference. As Martin Lloyd-Jones, a great preacher from the last century said, any time you feel an impulse to pray, pray. Don't ever not pray. That's the first lesson in prayer from Jonah. The second is to pray when you're asked. to pray when you're asked. In verse six, so the ship master came to him and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise and call upon thy God. If so be that God will think upon us that we perish not. Whenever someone asks you to pray, pray. Now maybe you think that's not fair because these are unbelieving people who worship false gods. And the whole point is they don't know the true God and they don't know what's going on. And they are calling for prayer to try and discern mystically and unbelievingly what God's will is. Nonetheless, pray. Jonah doesn't make the mistake of saying, my God is the same as your God. Jonah makes it clear, he worships another God. And he doesn't backtrack from honestly saying, this is the true God that made the heavens and the earth. And by clear implication, all your other gods are no gods. He doesn't shrink back from any of that. But when he's called on to pray, he does. He does. They said everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. And they cast lots and the lot fell unto Jonah. Let me go on and see what happens as Jonah explains the nature of the situation, who his God is and why that means they're in trouble. Even going so far as to say in verse 10, for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he told them. If you ever have an opportunity to pray with someone, Pray with them. Pray with them. Pray with your children. Pray with your spouse. Pray with your acquaintance. Pray with a person who needs help. You need to make clear who you are praying to. You need to make clear what prayer means. You may need to make very clear that you are praying to another God than they are. You could put it this way. You can pray for them, but perhaps not with them. You may have unbelieving people who deny who our Lord Jesus Christ is. Bizarre sects and groups in Christianity who deny the deity of the Lord, who deny the Trinity. groups that have kind of bizarre teachings about the Old Testament that deny the fundamental teachings of Scripture, or Jehovah's Witnesses, or Mormons, or any other type of group that denies these fundamental truths of the teachings of the Scripture and our Savior. Don't pray with them. You can't pray with them. You can't pray with them any more than you could pray with a Buddhist, or with a Muslim, or with a Hindu. but you can certainly pray for them. You can certainly pray for them. And if you are sensitive and a person of prayer, and you ask for opportunities to share the word and pray with people, you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised who you end up praying for in all kinds of different situations. Well, not only don't not pray, but pray when asked. And one thing is clear from Jonah further, cherishing sin kills prayer. Cherishing sin kills prayer. Jonah chooses his own way. Jonah wants to do things his own way. And as he actively turns from God and runs the opposite direction because Tarshish was, the opposite direction from where he was supposed to go, kills prayer, kills prayer. Later on, Jonah is called upon to pray. Later on, Jonah, by revelation of the Holy Spirit, offers himself in a very Christ-like way. We noticed all the beautiful parallels between this history and the times our Lord Jesus calmed the seas, and the willing sacrifice our Lord Jesus Christ was, and the willing sacrifice Jonah was. Truly, even in those things, not just in chapter two, he is one that directs us to our Lord Jesus, the greater than Jonah. But as he cherished sin, killed prayer, He does call upon God when he sees things that displease him. We'll see that later. It's very important to pray to God even when you're angry. But when you cherish sin, don't be surprised if it kills prayer. Say you're watching things on the internet you shouldn't. Say you're reading books you know you shouldn't. Say you're engaging in activities you know you shouldn't. Say you're deceiving people. Say you're cherishing things that you know are wrong. that. As you actively embrace things that you know God forbids, you don't pray as freely. You don't pray as openly. You certainly don't pray with a sense of God's favor. Why? Because part of prayer is confessing sin, isn't it? Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. How can you ask for forgiveness when you are rejecting the Lord to purposefully choose sin? And children of God do this for a season in their lives. And they need to be brought back to repentance. Think of a man as godly as King David. The man is an adulterer. The man is a liar. The man is a murderer. And he covered up his sin. And he would have continued if the prophet hadn't come with the word and said, thou art the man. Cherishing sin kills prayer. Cherishing sin kills our communion with God. Praise be for a child of God, it can't destroy their union with God. That was accomplished by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, never to be undone. but it certainly can destroy your sense of faith, your sense of his beloved presence, and if you continue in sin apart from repentance, it is simply proof you have no union with God at all. Isn't this true in your own relationships? Boys and girls, when you fight with your brother and your sister and you've done something wrong and you refuse to say you're sorry, in fact, maybe you're like Jonah, you're gonna continue to be angry even though you know you shouldn't be, you don't have that same relationship with your brother or your sister, do you? For those of us who are married, we know full well when things are not. the way they should be. Like we heard at the camp, things are supposed to be naked and without shame in marriage in every way. And in our consciences, in our experiences, we know what starts to happen to our sense of our marriage relationship. We know what starts to happen with our spouse, even according to our feelings. When we start to sow on fig leaves and hide things, we don't want them to see or find out. makes marriage a whole lot harder, ultimately will make it impossible. It's very interesting, all those parallels we see in human relationships, especially the relationship of marriage, which is that picture of Christ and the church. It only makes sense in light of our own personal experiences that when we cherish sin, it kills prayer and destroys that communion with the Lord. But not only don't not pray, not only pray when asked, not only observing that cherishing sin kills prayer, fourthly, pray when you're unhappy with God. Pray when you are unhappy with God. Verse one of Jonah chapter four. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry. And then maybe Verse two to you doesn't make any sense. And he prayed unto the Lord. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry, and he prayed unto the Lord. Sometimes when we're not happy with God, when he is not doing what we want him to do, we don't pray. Maybe you do that with your friends. You shouldn't. Maybe you do that with people close to you. You shouldn't. You're doing something I don't like, so I'm not going to talk to you. I had that with my father. My Uncle Rudy, who has now passed on to a later time, Uncle Rudy did something that he didn't like. And Dad decided, I'm not going to talk to Uncle Rudy anymore. He did something, and it was something really trivial. They're like, Dad, did you talk to Uncle Rudy about it? No, I'm not talking to him anymore. And of course, within a matter of months, he was. But that's not the right thing to do. When you have concern, when something is not pleasing to you, when there's a problem, so to speak, you go and you talk to that person. You tell them about it. And that's true with God. Something in your life is hard. Something in your life is going on you don't understand. Something in your life is going on you don't like. Tell God. Tell God. Not because God doesn't know. Of course God knows. Remember, God is the one that prepared the fish. God is the one that prepared the gourd. God is the one that prepared the worm. And God was the one that prepared the east wind. He knows, he knows. But tell him anyway, why? Why pray to God when something is happening that displeases you exceedingly? Because then you know God knows. Not because God doesn't know, but because then you know God knows. And maybe you think, well, I know God knows, because I know God knows everything. It's quite a bit different when you tell Him. That word no doesn't just have to do with facts you've memorized, it has to do with experience. And when you actually submit your heart to the Lord, and you trust Him and say, Lord, I'm having a hard time. Lord, I can't do it. Lord, I'm a creature, and Lord, I'm sinful, and Lord, I just don't. You have told Him. and you know He's heard it from you. And that can be a tremendous encouragement to your faith. That can be something that helps you embrace who He is and what He's doing. It can be, it can be the first step towards acceptance or simply continuing to enjoy His fatherly care for Christ's sake, even though you know it's hard. Have you ever noticed, boys and girls, that sometimes you're in a hard situation, a situation you don't like? A situation maybe your parents have put you in you don't like. They wouldn't let you have what you wanted. They wouldn't take you where you wanted to go. And what do you do? You tell your parents, I don't like this. I don't like that. I wish we could do this. And why do you tell them that? Do you tell them that because you think, uh-huh, I'm going to outsmart mom and dad? I hope you don't do that. Do you tell them that because you feel like, oh, if I nag them enough, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, and I ask, I can get them to do it. I hope you don't do that. I hope you don't do that. But you can just tell mom and dad how you feel, so they know how you feel, and so they can help you, and so you can receive their help. It's a very important thing. Sadly, Jonah, Jonah tells God how he feels and he continues hard-hearted until the Lord teaches him like we saw last week with the preparations of the gourd, the worm, and the east wind as an object lesson about God's right of salvation and what our priority should be. Well, not only don't not pray, not only pray when asked, not only observing cherishing sin kills prayer and our sense of communion with God, not only pray to God when you're unhappy with God, but we could say fifthly, pray to God when you're angry with God. Pray to God when you're angry with God. Because that's what Jonah does. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry, and he prayed unto the Lord. When you're angry with God, pray to God. Now maybe you think, no. No. You think, I'm angry with God, and I know being angry with God is wrong. Because after all, what does the Lord ask Jonah? Verse four. Then said the Lord, doest thou well to be angry? Should you be angry, Jonah? And of course, Jonah knows he shouldn't be. He gives up his life and tries to get away and sit and watch for the city to be destroyed. He needs to be taught a further lesson. And like we saw last time, God just doesn't go to Jonah. He teaches him. He teaches him with what he has prepared, like he prepared the fish, so would the gourd, so would the worm, so would the east wind, and he shows him that as Jonah had thought a certain way about the gourd, that he should have the gourd, and it was a blessing to him, and it was sad the gourd was gone, so in a In a beautiful, ironic way, like we saw, the Lord teaches him, after bestowing care and concern on the people of Nineveh, should he not exercise his marvelous redeeming work upon them? It seems Jonah understood the lesson by the silence and the question at the end of the chapter that goes unanswered. But even though it's wrong to be angry with God, it's always right to tell God you're angry with Him. Even though it may be wrong to be angry with God, it's always right to tell Him you're angry with Him. Maybe you think, I'm not so sure. Well, let me ask you this one. Is it ever wrong to confess your sin? Is it ever wrong to confess your sin to God? Well, maybe you think, no, that's what we need to do. The problem is when we don't do that, we need to always confess our sin to God. Yeah, that includes telling him how you feel. That includes telling him how you feel. You can say, Lord, I am angry with thee because I don't understand, because I don't like this, because this is hard, because it doesn't seem fair. You can tell him you're angry. Tell him you're angry. Now what will God do when you come and you tell him you're angry? Does he go, I'm done with you? No, what does he do? He will guide you, he will teach you, he will lead you in the ways of his own blessed mercy and care. Like he does the people of Nineveh, like he does Jonah. That is what our Lord Jesus does with us. Even giving us the sign of Jonah. That was a rebuke to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But what a blessed comfort to the people of God. Just like you would normally confess your sins to the Lord. Confess your anger. Confess your displeasure. Tell him about it. Tell him about it. Boys and girls, doesn't it work well with your parents when you tell them that? When you go to your mom or your dad and say, I am angry with you. I am angry. I don't like this. I don't understand this. It's quite different to say, you should do that, mom and dad. That's wrong, mom and dad. I'm gonna judge you, mom and dad. That's quite a bit different than saying, I'm angry. Just so you know. I'm struggling, just so you know. Maybe you do that in your marriage too. You can be in the midst of a discussion in marriage and dealing with a hard part in your relationship, a hard part in your life. You say, honey, I'm doing my best, but right now I'm just too angry and I need to calm down. I shouldn't be, but I am. I'm not thinking straight. Be that vulnerable, be that honest. And that can be the first step to finding the resolution. We must certainly do that with the Lord. If it's helpful to do it with each other, how much more with the Lord? Don't not pray. Pray when asked. Cherishing sin kills prayer. Pray when you're unhappy. Pray when you're angry. And lastly, be honest in your prayers. Be honest. Be honest. Jonah's honest. Verse two, when he prayed unto the Lord, he said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish, for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. He is brutally, powerfully, transparently honest in his prayers. And so we ought to be to God. Again, not because God doesn't know, not because God didn't understand what was going on, but so we know God knows. It helps us think through the way we feel, the way we think. can direct us back to God in faith rather than continuing unbelief, can help us submit our will to His will rather than demanding our own will. And Jonah here is still so hard hearted he needs other lessons from God to come, like we've seen before. But it's amazing how the Lord has brought Jonah to this point. And you do yourself no favors. when you're not honest. When you're not honest with your brothers and sisters, when you're not honest with your parents, when you're not honest with yourself, and certainly when you are not honest with God. We are so foolish and sinful. We will try and lie and hide things from other people. We will try and lie and hide things from ourselves. We will even try and lie and hide things from God. But you can't. So just be brutally honest, totally transparent, and completely truthful with how you feel, even if you know how you feel isn't the right way you should be feeling. We're always called to confess our sins, and we're always called to be honest. Don't ever be afraid to confess your sins and be honest to God, because He is as Jonah describes Him. Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent as they have eaten. Always confess your sins, always be honest. Well, those lessons from Jonah. But now we turn to lessons in prayer from the greater than Jonah. In Jonah chapter two. Now again, like we mentioned when we considered this... portion of Jonah in our sermon series, there's so much here. There's so much richness, there's so much depth about not only all the different Psalms that Jonah and ultimately the greater than Jonah is referencing in the belly of the well. There's so much here about Jonah's experience and so much strikingly about the experience of our Lord Jesus that we just don't have the time to consider it all. but it can be helpful to remember even our Lord Jesus Christ prayed constantly, constantly he prayed and went to his father. We can see flashes of insight, and as it were, a window not only into the experiences of our Lord upon the cross, and Jonah's words in the belly of the whale, but we see pictures and snatches of his prayer life, evident throughout his ministry, and certainly evident on the cross. we won't explore these things deeply, just generally as principles in prayer with a special reference to our Lord Jesus. Well, firstly, from Jonah chapter two, the prayer of the greater than Jonah, we find in verse one that we are to pray in every circumstance. We are to pray in every circumstance. And this might seem very weird. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God, and then this phrase, out of the fish's belly. Doesn't that seem absurd? I had never thought about that, praying in the fish's belly. I've thought about praying in the midst of trouble, praying in the midst of hardship, praying in the midst of joy. I've thought about praying when I feel trapped. I've thought about praying when I'm afraid I'm gonna drown. And I never thought about praying in a fish's belly. In fact, these words and verse two are a summary of what comes through the rest of the chapter before verse 10. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I, and thou heardest my voice. The rest of the chapter from verse three down to verse nine, like we've seen, is exactly that. And our Lord Jesus here, as Jonah cries out in the belly of the fish, is crying out from the cross, and we would be in error, we would be wrong, we would be bad students of the scripture if we looked at it any other way. Because like we noted in Matthew chapter 12, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, shall so the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. These are the cross experiences of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if Jonah cries out from the fish's belly, and the Lord Jesus cries out to His Father from the cross, let us cry out in every circumstance we're in, no matter how hard a place, no matter how impossible a thing, no matter how dreadful, no matter how overwhelming, cry out to God. And if you can cry out to God from the cross, If you can cry out to God from the fish's belly, you can cry out to God in any time and in any circumstance. The problem is when we don't. Well, now is not the right time to pray, it's not fitting, it's not pious, it's not this, it's not that, nonsense. Every time and every place is the time to cry out to God. Our Lord Jesus is the great model of that. Not only did he cry out to God on the cross, but what was his constant activity? His constant activity, his constant activity was to find time alone with his father, to go apart from the crowds, to be on his own, and to commune to pray with his father. If you survey the gospels, it's a constant activity he does. He prays in every circumstance. But not only pray in every circumstance, if you find yourself in the belly of the whale, so to speak, but pray knowing you'll be heard. Pray knowing you'll be heard. Verse two emphasizes that in those verses that summarize all of what follows. I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. He heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried I. Thou heardest my voice. When you pray to God, he hears. Think about that. Anytime you say the word amen at the end of your prayer, Anytime you say the word amen at the end of your prayer, you're saying truly so let it be. In other words, you know God hears you. You can trust him. When you pray, God hears. When you pray, God hears. Rest in that. It's amazing how the scriptures are full of confirmations of that. Read through the Psalms, and you find summary statement in the Psalms a lot like verses one and two in Jonah about how he cried out to God, he struggled, and the Lord heard him, and then goes on through tremendously difficult personal spiritual circumstance. Again, the Psalms being the words of the Lord. And when the Lord Jesus cries unto his Father, he always knows he's heard. He always knows he's heard. Even if the answer was no. Even if the answer was no. He knew he was heard. And he could be at peace. Though he would be suffering the wrath of his father and be giving his very life. Because he knew he was heard. And he knew he would trust his father. Simplest example. not my will, but thy will be done. We'll consider this more further, because not only are we to pray in every circumstance, not only should we pray knowing you'll be heard, but pray knowing why God will hear you. Pray knowing why God will hear you. Verses four and seven. Then said I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. And then verse seven. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came unto thee, into thy holy temple. You know you'll be heard here, because it is the Lord, and because the prayer goes into the temple. It's quite striking, but that's exactly what it says. Verse four, I will look again toward thy holy temple. He's cast of God's sight, he's lost, he's in the belly of the whale at the bottom of the sea. He's hanging on the cross naked, encompassed in darkness and the wrath of his father. but he trusts, looks toward the Holy Temple. We'll consider that more further. But verse seven again, that same emphasis. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. And in the King James, it's in all capital letters, L-O-R-D. I remembered Jehovah. I remember the God of the burning bush. I remember the I am. I remember the covenant keeping God who is all powerful, who doesn't change, who will always keep his word, and who delivered his people from Egypt. And the Lord Jesus who delivers his people from their sins. Those two things in verses four and seven, as you look at them together, because the Lord, God's covenant-keeping faithfulness and because of the temple. Because of the temple. Both those things tell us your prayers will be heard for Jesus' sake. What is the ultimate expression and revelation of who the Lord, L-O-R-D, is? He says, before Abraham was, I am. and they pick up stones to kill him in John chapter eight because he said it. Because they knew he claimed to be Israel's Messiah, deliverer, and divine. He claimed to be the one to bring about the realization of the covenant promises given to Abraham and the deliverer of sinners. When we see the Lord Jesus, We see the Father. When we see the Lord Jesus, we see the realization and the keeping of every promise. When we see the Lord Jesus, God and man in the flesh, and is coming under the law, and is keeping the law, and is suffering hell for us on the cross, and is rising gloriously from the grave and ascending up into heaven, we see God's work by covenant promise realized in history. And our deliverance made sure. That's confirmed by the language of the temple. What was special about the temple? Why does he look to the temple? Maybe you remember, boys and girls, as he's flipping around in the belly of the fish, kind of floating and fighting for air as he comes up to the surface covered in seawater and fish gut stomach acid. How does he know in the midst of the dark which way is east, north, south, or west? How does he know where he is in the ocean? How can he direct his prayer to the temple? Well, he's not praying the way the Muslims must bow and make which direction Mecca is. In faith, he's trusting God and the God of the deliverance, the God of the temple. Why the temple? In the temple was the ark. In the temple was the cherubim. In the temple on the ark was the mercy seat, and the blood that was sprinkled, and there dwelled God's glory. That is Christ. There he is, the propitiation, the turning away of the wrath of God for sin because of the blood. And that is where God and sinners met because of the intercession and sacrifice of the high priest. It's overflowing with the imagery, typology, and glorious excellence of Christ foreshadowed in the Old Testament. And what is he doing here, as the greater than Jonah, than simply pleading for the sake of his own work? It's a glorious thing. He's prayed, not my will, but thy will be done. And we could take the time, but we won't now, to track through the cross words, as they're called, that he says, and how they all culminate in, it is finished. and he can say into thy hands, father, I commend my spirit. He can pray to his father with a full assurance of the fact he will be heard and has been heard because of what he has accomplished. To use the other language implicit that's used here is because he built the temple. Because he built the temple. Like we mentioned in our series, paralleling the sign of Jonah is the fact, destroy this temple and in three days I will build it. Just like being three days in the belly of the whale. And like we know, it wasn't the physical temple he was talking about, but the temple of his body. Destroy this temple, destroy my body, and I will raise it in three days. And we know from Romans chapter 6, we know from 1 Corinthians 15, that doesn't mean the body of His physical nature itself alone but it meant his church. For when he rose, we rose. When he died, we died. And that is the great surety of the fact the spiritual resurrection believers have in him being joined to his death by faith in Romans chapter six. But the promise of a physical resurrection guaranteed in First Corinthians 15 and his Acts chapter 17 says is the proof he will judge the world. you can know your prayers will be heard for Jesus' sake. And boys and girls, if you have the good habit of praying that way, of ending your prayer in Jesus' name and saying it for Jesus' sake, don't ever let it become commonplace. Don't ever let it become rote. Don't ever let it become tradition. Let it be a buoy that lifts you up in hope and let it be the surety of knowing God will hear you. Because when you pray in His name, you bring with it everything He's done. As so many preachers have said before, you can't separate Christ and His work. You can pray from the belly of hell. You can pray from the fish's belly. Maybe you don't even know where you are and you're hurting so bad you don't understand what is going on, but you can be sure when you pray in Jesus' name, trusting the Lord, going and sending by faith those requests to the temple or the Lord himself, you can be sure you'll be heard. And that's why, lastly, We pray in every circumstance. We pray knowing we'll be heard. We pray knowing we'll be heard because of the Lord and because of His temple. And lastly, we pray in confidence. In confidence. Verses eight and nine resonate with such confidence. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. When you serve yourself, or like the word vanity may be referencing, when you serve idols, you forsake your own mercy. You get rid of your only source of help and hope. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I, I will sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. He's still in the fish. He's still half drowned in fish stomach acid. He's still under the waves. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. He's thankful because he's known he's been heard by faith even as he tastes the guts of the fish in his mouth as he's got a fight for air. I will pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. I know he's heard me. I know he's going to deliver me. Then, as he takes hold of the promises of God of his very person by faith, the Lord spit him up on dry ground. The Lord Jesus, as he is encompassed with the very wrath of his Father, As he cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Rolls over into it is finished. And into thy hands I commit my spirit, trusting, like he said in the Gospel of John, I have authority to lay down my life, and I have authority to take it again. This promise have I from my Father. He can face death after having faced hell in full confidence because he knows his prayer has been heard for the sake of his own work. And so do we. So do we. And that's amazing, the comfort that will come in prayer, the strength that will come in prayer, the courage that will come in prayer, the confidence, and with it the obedience that flows out of it. When we pray like this, when we pray in faith, focusing on the Lord Jesus, there's a lot of lessons to learn in prayer. From the book of Jonah, many from Jonah himself. but we've just scratched the surface of the lessons in prayer we can learn from the greater than Jonah. By the grace of the Lord, what better way to end a series on Jonah with all the marvelous history, with all the spiritual lessons to be learned, what better way for the full application of the book than to do what the greater than Jonah has done, and pray, pray like Him, following His example, honoring what He has done. When you pray, when you go to bed tonight, even when we pray at the fellowship lunch, think about all this theological stuff and all this great teaching. As we take hold of these things by the Spirit's work, it's amazing how our lives will change. our communion with God, our service to Him, maybe we'll indeed learn that great lesson Jonah did, being taught the way Jonah was by the greater than Jonah. Amen. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, our great Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for lessons in prayer, We thank thee, Lord Jesus, for not only giving us the model and perfect prayer, but for being the greatest example of prayer and for being the one who is the answer and the guarantee of any prayer a sinner makes. We pray, Lord, that thou would teach us, that thou would teach us to delight in the greater than Jonah, Heavenly Father, we ask this in Jesus' name, and in Jesus' name alone.