Breakthrough Prayers: Breakthrough From the Belly - Jonah (Part 8)
Main Text: Jonah 1:1-3, Jonah 2:1-9, Jonah 3:1-3
Your greatest breakthrough may not come when you're on the mountaintop, but when you're at your lowest point. Jonah teaches us that no place is too dark, too deep, or too hopeless for God to hear a sincere prayer.
Everyone experiences a "Belly of the Fish" season. It may be:
- Failed marriage
- Financial collapse
- Addiction
- Depression
- Ministry setback
- Consequences of poor decisions
Jonah wasn't just trapped by a fish. He was trapped by his own disobedience. Yet even there, God was still listening.
The place of your greatest failure can become the place of your greatest prayer.
How Did Jonah Get Here?
Jonah 1:1-3 (AMP) - Jonah's Disobedience Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim judgment against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord and his duty as His prophet. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.
Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.
Jonah 2:1 (AMP) - Jonah's Prayer Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish.
Key Point 1: We Are Never Outside of God's Reach
People often feel they are too far from God, too dirty for God, too broken for God.
My Bible speaks of a woman caught in the act of adultery. My Bible speaks of a woman at the well. My Bible speaks of a man named Blind Bartimaeus. My Bible speaks of a man beside a pool for 38 years. My Bible speaks of the lepers needing Jesus.
You are not too far gone for God.
Psalm 139:8 (AMP) If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, the nether world, the place of the dead, behold, You are there.
Isaiah 59:1 (NLT) Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
Jonah 2:2 (AMP) I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help, and You heard my voice.
Sheol - the unseen world, the place of departed souls, not the grave where a body goes at death - should be enough proof that Jonah was dead, though he was brought up from corruption.
Key Point 2: Cry Out From Your Lowest Place
God hears prayers from prison cells, hospital rooms, broken homes, and empty bank accounts.
Psalm 120:1 (AMP) In my trouble I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.
Principle: Pain often precedes change.
I often wonder why people have to go through pain before they change. People know that they are in a bad relationship, yet they still proceed, hoping that it will change.
No matter how deep you fall, God's grace reaches deeper.
Jonah 2:3-4 (AMP) For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the currents surrounded and engulfed me; all Your breakers and billowing waves passed over me. Then I said, "I have been cast out of Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple."
Psalm 121:1 I look to the hills, from where my help comes from.
Key Point 3: Remember God's Faithfulness
Even while trapped, Jonah looked toward God.
2 Timothy 2:13 (AMP) If we are faithless, He remains faithful, true to His word and His righteous character, for He cannot deny Himself.
A sunflower keeps turning toward the sun. Believers must keep turning toward God.
Jonah 2:5-6 (AMP) The waters surrounded me, to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. I descended to the very roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me, bolting me in forever, yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.
Jonah describes himself as dead, spiritually and physically gone.
Matthew 12:40 (AMP) 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.
Jonah 2:7-9 (AMP) When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard and follow worthless idols turn away from their living source of mercy and lovingkindness. But as for me, I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving.
Key Point 4: Thanksgiving Opens the Door for Deliverance
Jonah praised before he was released.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP) In every situation, no matter what the circumstances, be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 34:1 (AMP) I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Praise isn't just a response to victory. Praise is part of the pathway to victory.
Jonah 2:9 (AMP) I shall pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!
Key Point 5: Renew Your Commitment to Obey God
Story: Jean Francois Gravelet, "The Great Blondin"
On June 30, 1859, he made the first tightrope crossing of the gorge below Niagara Falls. After that first walk, he repeated the feat many more times, each occasion adding a new daredevil element - crossing on stilts, on a bicycle, blindfolded, and even at night. On one occasion, he pushed a wheelbarrow along the tightrope with a stove inside it. After crossing with the wheelbarrow, he asked the crowd, "Do you think I can cross with a person in the wheelbarrow?"
The crowd shouted, "Yes!"
He then asked, "Who wants to ride?"
Silence fell over the crowd.
Faith that doesn't move isn't faith at all.
John 14:15 (AMP) If you really love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
James 1:22 (AMP) But prove yourselves doers of the word, actively and continually obeying God's precepts, and not merely listeners who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning, deluding yourselves by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (AMP) Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the LORD your God.
God's blessings often follow renewed obedience.
Jonah 2:10 (AMP) So the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Key Point 6: God Controls What Controls You
The fish obeyed God. Everything answers to God's authority.
Colossians 1:16-17 (AMP) For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.
What has been holding you can be released by one word from God.
Jonah 3:1-3 (AMP) Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Go to Nineveh the great city and declare to it the message which I am going to tell you." So Jonah went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk, about sixty miles in circumference.
Key Point 7: Your Second Chance Can Become Someone Else's Salvation
Jonah's obedience led to the repentance of Nineveh.
Romans 8:28 (AMP) And we know, with great confidence, that God, who is deeply concerned about us, causes all things to work together as a plan for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
Your restoration is never just for you. It is for everyone God will reach through you.
The Anatomy of a Breakthrough - The Breakthrough Matrix
Seven Signs Your Breakthrough Is Near
- You stop making excuses.
- You begin crying out to God.
- You remember God's promises.
- Thanksgiving replaces complaining.
- Obedience replaces rebellion.
- Peace replaces panic.
- God opens a new opportunity.
Memorable Quotes:
- "God's grace is deeper than your failure."
- "God specializes in second chances."
Closing
Psalm 40:1-3 (NLT) I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.
If God heard Jonah from the belly of a great fish, He can hear you wherever you are. No pit is too deep. No failure too great. No life too far gone for the God of breakthrough.
Discussion Questions
- Jonah's "belly of the fish" season came from his own disobedience. Is there an area of your life right now where you've been running from something God asked you to do? What would it look like to turn back toward Him today?
- The message reminds us that "no matter how deep you fall, God's grace reaches deeper." What is one lie you've believed about being "too far gone" for God, and what truth from this sermon can you replace it with this week?
- Pain often precedes change. Think of a situation you've kept putting up with even though you knew it wasn't good for you. What's one honest step you can take this week to move toward real change instead of staying comfortable in it?
- Jonah praised God before he was delivered - thanksgiving came before the breakthrough. What is one thing you can thank God for right now, even in the middle of a difficult season, and how might that shift your perspective?
- The sermon says, "Your restoration is never just for you. It is for everyone God will reach through you." Who in your life might need to hear your story of God's faithfulness? What's one practical way you can share it with them this week?