Daily Devotions
Jonah
"Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God"
Text: Jonah 2:1
NO PRAYER OFFERED
Jonah had not prayed to the Lord when he was told to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2). He did not pray when he went on board ship that fateful day. He was coerced to seek God in prayer by the mariners. But we are not told that he actually prayed to God even then (Jonah 1:6).
PRAYING AT LAST
Jonah was thrown into the raging sea at his own request. The mariners enjoyed an immediate respite from the storm. There was an immediate calming of the sea. But Jonah had been swallowed by a great fish that God had prepared.
“Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
And he said, ‘I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction,
And He answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.'”
Jonah 2:1-2
1. “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly”
a) Would God hear Jonah’s prayer?
b) Yes! Because of the Lord’s grace and mercy.
c) And also because the LORD was still Jonah’s God.
d) Jonah was still God’s servant, notwithstanding the fact that he was disobedient.
2. “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction”
a) The affliction is a reference to God’s chastisement.
i) God had to chasten Jonah.
ii) He had to teach him important lessons through chastisement.
b) Crying out to God because of affliction.
i) It may not have been the best reason to seek God in prayer.
ii) But God would still hear such prayer.
3. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried”
a) Sheol refers to the abode of the dead.
b) Jonah must have felt that he was “in the belly of Sheol”.
c) He could not see how he could ever get out alive.
4. “You answered me… You heard my voice”
a) Jonah was grateful that God had heard his prayer.
b) He was conscious that God would listen to him at all, let alone answer his prayer.
God’s ears are always open to the cries of those who recognize their sins and are repentant!