Prayer Call: Reach Out

Good Morning, BFB!

This morning, I’m simply going where God has led me, and the focus He placed on my heart is reaching out. Reaching out—even when we resist it. Reaching out—even when we feel inadequate.

Our scripture focus this morning comes from the Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (NIV):
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’ Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” Verse 10 - “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened.”

This morning,  it’s all about reaching out. When I looked at Jonah 3, the very first line stood out to me: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” That made me think about how God calls us to reach out—even when we resist Him.

 If you know the story, Jonah didn’t want to do what God asked the first time. Jonah wasn’t an eager prophet; he was a reluctant servant. He didn’t want to go where God was sending him. He had already said “no.” And like many of us, when God told him to do something, Jonah ran.

Jonah knew exactly what God was asking, but he didn’t want to do it. And before we get too hard on Jonah, let’s be honest—sometimes God tells us to do something, and we don’t want to do it either. Just like children who don’t listen the first time, sometimes God has to speak to us again.

But God speaks again. He tells Jonah, “This is bigger than you. I need you to reach out. I need you to go where you don’t want to go. I need you to reach out to the people of Nineveh.”

And I believe God wants the same from us as a body of faith—to reach out into places that make us uncomfortable, to reach out to people we might prefer to avoid, to reach out even when it stretches us.

Nineveh wasn’t a neutral place. It was violent. It was oppressive. It was the enemy. Jonah didn’t lack clarity—he lacked compassion. He knew God would forgive the people of Nineveh, and that was the problem. Jonah didn’t think they deserved compassion. But that decision isn’t ours to make; it belongs to God.

Reaching out is rarely about what we desire. Reaching out is about God’s desire to reach others. God often calls us toward people we’ve learned to avoid—people in our community, people who are struggling, people who have hurt us, people we’ve left behind.

Jonah reminds us that outreach isn’t about where we feel safe. Reaching out is about where God sends us.

As you go through this week, ask yourself: Where is God sending me? Who is God calling me to reach?

Jonah also shows us that reaching out doesn’t require eloquence. It doesn’t require a long message. It requires obedience. When Jonah finally reached Nineveh, his message was simple: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Short. Direct. Obedient.

Jonah didn’t preach with enthusiasm, but he preached with obedience—and God used it anyway. God can use whatever He gives us, as long as we move.

God works through our obedience. When we move, God moves. When God’s people move, God’s mercy moves even faster.

In verse 5, the people believed God. They fasted. From the greatest to the least, they humbled themselves. And in verse 10, God saw what they did, and He relented. The city responded—and God responded to them.

That’s what Jonah struggled with. And sometimes we struggle with it too. But God is always ready to show mercy when someone is willing to receive it—and when someone is willing to carry His message.

Sometimes we think outreach or evangelism is about us saving someone. But reaching out isn’t about saving anyone—that’s God’s work. Our job is simply to move, to speak, to reach, to plant the seed. Someone else may water it, but God brings the increase.

Reaching out feels hard when we think it’s about us. But when we realize it’s all about God, reaching out becomes easier.

So as we begin this week and prepare for Sunday, ask God:
Where are You asking me to reach out?
Is it in my community?
Is it through church outreach?
Is it through prayer?
Is it to a family member, to mend old wounds?

I pray that God lays opportunities on your heart—and mine—to reach out, not for our glory, but for His.

I pray we all reach out.

Amen and amen.