by Matt Grant

We were blessed with another morning to meet together for men’s prayer. Pastor Steve followed up on the recent Jonah sermons series by focusing on whether or not we truly believe, care, or desire to see our enemies’ hearts transformed for Jesus. If God can change the hearts of the Ninevites through a five word (in Hebrew) sermon, then he can surely change the hearts of the most stubborn and godless people we know. BUT do we even care to see godless, stubborn, worldly people transformed into Christ’s likeness? See below for the Biblical text, commentary, and questions from Steve’s devotional. Enjoy!

Men’s Prayer 9.3.08

Jonah 3:1-5
¹Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ²“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. ⁴Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Jonah 3:10
¹⁰When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Five word sermon (in Hebrew) which God multiplied like the loaves and fishes in Jesus’ hand.

Who is the most resistant hard-hearted person you know?

Who is the most “evil” (undeserving of the grace of God) person you know?

Do you believe God can/will use you, us, our prayers?

Jonah 4:10-11
¹⁰And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

What do you care about? (plant? Cows? BBQ? Yourself?) What do you pray about?

The central definition of prayer in the Westminster Catechism is “an offering up of our desires unto God.” Therefore prayer is the revealer of the heart. What a person prays for shows the spiritual condition of his heart. If we do not pray for spiritual things (like the glory of Christ, and the hallowing of God’s name, and the salvation of sinners, and the holiness of our hearts, and the advance of the gospel, and contrition for sin, and the fullness of the Spirit, and the coming of the kingdom, and the joy of knowing Christ), then probably it is because we do not desire these things. Which is a devastating indictment of our hearts.

This is why J. I. Packer said, “I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face.” How we pray reveals the desires of our hearts.^[1]

Who are you praying for? (Pastor Jamie’s question on The City)

James 4:2 You do not have because you do not ask.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Ephesians 3:20
20Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Pray for:

• Jeff Gwin’s sister is having surgery to remove a cancerous tumor this morning.

• Proxy Kick off tonight

• God to use our Pre-marriage class this fall to lay strong biblical foundations for new marriages

• Song of Song series this fall

• People saved and transformed over the next 12 months . . .

• God will use US, use OUR prayers!

• We will be excited to see God working through our efforts!

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^[1]John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God : How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004), 139.