“Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord, his God, out of the fish’s belly and said, ‘I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I and You heard my voice’.”
Jonah 2:1-2
When it comes to praying, as someone once said “Better late than never.”
Praying is not something that comes naturally. And, if the truth be known, even after we’re born again and have walked with the Lord for many years, prayer is still the hardest spiritual discipline we’ll ever undertake.
Why is that?
Partly because we don’t want to pray. And, partly because we don’t know how to pray.
That’s why the disciples’ first request of Jesus was to “teach them how to pray” (Lk. 11:1) and why the Holy Spirit’s been given to assist us in praying (Rom. 8:26-27). God knows our propensity for “praying amiss that we may consume it upon our own lusts” (James 4:3; cf. I Jn. 2:16).
Even so, at least Jonah knew what to do when the whale gobbled him up after the sailors tossed him into the sea (1:14-16).
He prayed.
Even though covered with seaweed and stinking, slimy, dead fish and gastrointestinal juices (2:5), Jonah still knew “the Lord heard him and his cry even from the belly of hell (Heb. ‘sheol’—‘the place of the dead, the shadowy place where the deceased dwell, etc.).” Amazing!!
And, what a prayer it was!
Even a cursory examination of his prayer in vv.4-9 reveals an in-depth knowledge of Who God is and what He has done. Even though he felt he was “cast out of God’s sight” (v.4a), Jonah knew to still “look toward God’s Holy Temple” (v.4). Even though he felt like he’d been “brought down to the depths of the earth and imprisoned there forever” (v.6a), he knew the Lord had spared his life and “brought up his life from corruption/certain destruction” (v.6b).
This shows us that prayer, though arising from the depths of deserved affliction, is always in order. And, it’s during those times when “our soul faints (Heb. ‘ataph’—to grow feeble, swoon, be overwhelmed, etc.’) within us that we should remember the Lord and cry out unto Him” (v.7). He will still hear us. And, in His Mercy He will still deliver us (v.10)—which should bring us to the place of thanksgiving, praise and obedience (v.9).
Dear Pilgrim, where are you in your walk with the Lord today? Is He as close to you as your next breath? Are you hearing His heartbeat of Love and “still, small Voice” throughout the day? Or, have you succumbed to “the deceitfulness of sin and grown dull of hearing” (Heb. 3:7-8; 5:11-14)? If so, confess and repent; He’ll still hear your cry and bring you where you need to be (Ps. 107:26-30). Don’t delay. Do it now. As the song says, “Trust and obey, For there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, Than to trust and obey.” Amen and amen.
January 24, 2012
