We find a few times in scripture where a people giving themselves to fasting and prayer radically changes the circumstances they are experiencing. I would say we find ourselves in a day where we desperately need to see radical change.
In Jonah 3, we find that Jonah is walking through the city declaring the word of the Lord. This is a significant part of the story. First of all, there was a man that the word of the Lord came to. There was one who heard the Lord on behalf of a people and was willing, after being tossed off of a boat and swallowed by a fish, to declare exactly what it was the Lord was saying. The Lord is willing to go through great lengths to redeem a people. As he is doing this, the scriptures say in verse 5, “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sack-cloth from the greatest to the least of them. This brings up another incredible point for us to consider. There was a unified people that believed in God and gave themselves to fasting from the greatest to the least. This means king and pauper, male and female, young and old, strong and weak. Everyone was included. Then the Bible says in verse 10, “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked ways, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.”
I believe the Lord is looking for ones who would declare His word in cities and nations. That it would cause men and women to respond to Jesus and give themselves to fasting and prayer. That the word of the Lord would cause people to evaluate their current situation and come to a similar conclusion as the king of Nineveh in verse 9. “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” It is time for us to respond to the Lord and declare His word.
The problem is there is potentially much at stake with responding to the Lord this way. It may compromise the comforts and luxuries we experience in Christianity especially here in the west. We must come to the place where being obedient to what the Lord is saying is more valuable than our comforts, our careers, our ministries, our material possessions, even our own opinions about ourselves. Being obedient to Him is primary. Jonah had the delusional idea that he could hear the word of the Lord and go about living his best life now and not be faithful to respond. He quickly found out that wasn’t how it works.
The thought that should get ALL of our attention is that Jonah, after hearing the word of the Lord for Nineveh, rose up to flee to Tarshish and FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD! When the Lord shares His burden and heart with Jonah and asks him to respond a specific way Jonah is willing to flee from His presence to have the freedom to do what he wants to do.
May we be ones who are able to discern the voice of the Lord for our cities, regions, and nations and sow our lives in obedience to declare His word. I believe the Lord is looking for ones who would respond to Him and that there would be entire communities, cities, and even nations that would respond to God to see a people preserved.
