Jonah 3: A People on Their Knees, the Destiny of a Nation Changes

Introduction

EPEB Dieu Puissant (Église Pentecôtiste Évangélique de Belgique, the Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Belgium) is going through forty days of fasting and prayer. The church's pastors and evangelists take turns bringing the word. Since Friday, a pastor of the church has been preaching on spiritual revival. On this Sunday, October 25, 2026, he preaches the third day.

He begins by recalling what was covered the day before with Zacchaeus, the rich man who lacked nothing except the one thing that mattered. Then he opens a sub-theme: "A people on their knees, the destiny of a nation changes." His text is Jonah 3, the story of a condemned city that humbles itself before God and sees the sentence lifted.

His message rests on one conviction: every time the Lord has wanted to act among his people, he has waited for the people to take the first step. And that first step is repentance.

Outline of the message

1. Zacchaeus: do not trample on grace

Zacchaeus had everything a man could desire: fame, money, a position as chief of the tax collectors. But something very important was missing inside him.
"You can have everything in life. But if you don't have Jesus in you, you are an unhappy man."
He was short, and his height was an obstacle to seeing the Lord. He did not look at what was working against him, nor at what the people of his town would think. He threw off his shame and climbed a tree.
Jesus called him by name without anyone telling him. "Just as you are, the Lord knows you by name."
People grumbled because Jesus was going into a sinner's house. But Jesus knew what he was doing: he came for the lost sheep.
Jesus did not say a word, and it was Zacchaeus who began to repent: he gives half of his possessions to the poor and pays back four times as much to those he wronged (Luke 19:8). "If it were you and me, I don't think we would have acted like Zacchaeus."
The preacher's call for these forty days: "Let us not trample on grace." Zacchaeus seized the opportunity when Christ was passing by.

2. Salvation enters the whole household

Jesus answers: "Today, salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9). Zacchaeus was the one who confessed, but salvation does not stop with him: it reaches his household.
"If you believe in Jesus with all your heart, salvation is within reach of your house. Salvation is within reach of your family."
You can be a carrier of grace for your family. Because of your prayer, you can save your family; because of your faith, you can set your family free. All it takes is to believe that Christ is the rewarder, the Lord of lords.

3. A nation in danger

God says to Jonah: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me" (Jonah 1:2). The people were behaving badly and the Lord wanted to destroy the city.
The word comes to Jonah a second time. He enters the city and proclaims: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).
"You can't talk about revival unless there has been sleep." If we talk about spiritual revival, it is because there has been a spiritual drowsiness somewhere.
God sees the danger hanging over Nineveh and sends a prophet. "What love: instead of destroying, he prefers the way of repentance, the road back to the Father."
The sentence has been pronounced, but the choice belongs to the people: listen to God's voice, or suffer judgment in forty days.

4. A people on their knees

The people of Nineveh believe God, proclaim a fast and put on sackcloth, "from their greatest even to their least" (Jonah 3:5).
They listened to the message and told themselves: we are in danger, so what we are going to do is return to God and repent.
The preacher draws the parallel with the church: the man of God heard the message, proclaimed a fast and invited the whole church to seek God's face. "God saw that we were spiritually asleep." And he asks the question: are you with us, are you doing what the people of Nineveh did?
The news reaches the king. He rises from his throne, takes off his robe, covers himself with sackcloth and sits in ashes (Jonah 3:6). Just as Zacchaeus came down from his tree, the king comes down from his throne and humbles himself before the God of grace.
At his command, the whole city fasts, from the greatest to the least, even the livestock. Let everyone cry out to God with all their strength and turn from their evil way and from violence (Jonah 3:7-8).
The preacher, who jokes that he comes from Ninove and not from Nineveh, says he fasted at home with his wife, but not with his daughter, who goes to school: "It's not her fault, it's my responsibility." He could not impose it on a minor.
Today we negotiate, we talk things over with our children, and their "no" comes without a second thought. In that day, no one could revoke a decree signed by a king: when the king spoke, it had to be carried out.

5. A destiny that changes

The king urges his people: "Who knows? God may turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish" (Jonah 3:9).
"God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn't do it" (Jonah 3:10).
"When the church is on its knees, God changes the situation." Why does God change his decision? Because the people humbled themselves.
"The prayer you come to offer in this place, don't take it lightly. Don't take it as a joke." Don't spend these forty days in vain: stay attentive to the word of the Lord.

6. If my people humble themselves

The preacher ends with 2 Chronicles 7:14: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
There are conditions: humble yourselves, pray, seek God's face, turn from evil. God does not hold back when his people call on him.
When something is wrong in the church, God looks for a channel so that the message reaches the ears of his people. He is always looking for an alternative so as not to destroy them.
David knew this. He said: "Bless Yahweh, my soul, and don't forget all his benefits!" There were days when he was not walking well before God, but every time he got on his knees, he sought to draw God's favor.
Though he was a king, he asked God to search his heart and show him the way to go. "Church, let us seek to please our God."
"Revival begins with repentance." We do not come to weep before God for forty days because we are better or stronger, but because we want him to wipe away our faults.

7. The bearer of revival cannot be selfish

The Samaritan woman did not want to believe, because of the conflict between Samaritans and Jews. But when Jesus revealed her life to her, she understood who he was and ran to her own people.
"When revival strikes a heart, revival spreads to other people. Don't keep spiritual revival to yourself."
Revival can begin with one person and touch a whole church or a whole nation. God can use you for your family, for the church, for your nation.
Before the prayer, he invites everyone to look at the places where God is not pleased with them, where they have cheated, and to review their relationship with the Lord.

Key takeaways

When God wants to act among his people, he waits for the people to take the first step: repentance.
To talk about revival is to acknowledge spiritual sleep. Revival begins with humility, prayer and repentance.
In Nineveh, the whole city humbled itself, from the greatest to the least, even the king. And God relented from the judgment he had announced.
The salvation that touches one person can reach their whole household: your faith and your prayer matter for your family.
Revival is not meant to be kept to yourself: whoever receives it passes it on to their family, their church and their nation.

Personal application

Are there signs of spiritual drowsiness in your life that you have come to see as normal?
What keeps you from "coming down from your throne" or "from your tree" to humble yourself before God: your position, your reputation, what others think?
Where is God not pleased with you right now? Is there an area where you have cheated?
How can your faith and your prayer become a door of grace for your family?
Who can you pass on what God is doing in your heart to, instead of keeping it to yourself?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

Why did God spare Nineveh in Jonah 3?

Judgment had been announced: in forty days, Nineveh would be overthrown. But the people believed God, proclaimed a fast and turned from their evil way, from the greatest to the least, even the king. God saw that they were turning back to him and relented from the disaster he had said he would do to them (Jonah 3:10).

What is the connection between spiritual revival and repentance?

For the preacher, you can't talk about revival unless there has been sleep: to speak of spiritual revival is to acknowledge a drowsiness somewhere. So revival begins with repentance. Humility, repentance and prayer come back in every message of these forty days.

What does God promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14?

If his people humble themselves, pray, seek his face and turn from their wicked ways, God promises to hear them from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. The preacher stresses that there are conditions, and that God is always looking for an alternative so as not to destroy his people.