Prayers From the Bible Part 2Sample

Jonah's prayer

Read Jonah 2:1–9

We’ve all had those moments where we ignore that voice within us. Whether we attribute it to God’s Spirit, or to a gut feeling, we know what it feels like to go against what we know to be right. Jonah knew it too well. God called him to preach to his enemies in Ninevah and he fled. In the opposite direction. Yet, God used Jonah’s time in the belly of a fish (1:17) to reroute him and remind him who He is. Jonah used the time wisely and cried out to God in ‘distress’. He cried for help, knowing that God had hurled him into seas that He controls (2:3). Jonah channeled his desperation into prayer, seeking God’s unfailing love. He humbled himself, knowing that it’s God’s plan that will ultimately prevail.

Old Testament narratives, like Jonah, all show us how God is at work in Israel. Yet, with Jonah’s instructions to preach in Ninevah, this was a clear call that shows God’s redeeming mission is for all people. This is why it was so shocking to Jonah. He knew that God is ‘compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love’ (Psalm 103:8) and he didn’t want to see his enemies redeemed.

Jonah’s experience with this fish was a moment of both great distress and great deliverance (2:9). Jonah shows us that sometimes rock-bottom can be where we see God the clearest. Zooming out, we see God’s hand through Jonah’s whole story, as He provides, not what Jonah wants, but what he needs (1:17, 4:6–8).

Ultimately, we see God providing this defiant prophet with only eight words that save a whole city (3:4,9).

Written by BREE BOND