Jonah's Prayer

Jona 2:1-10

2 1From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.  “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah's praying in the belly of fish seems interesting, as his prayer starts with complaining about his despair and pains, moves to thank, and it ends with praises to God. The main reason for this hope and changes of prayer was because he looked again toward His holy temple, like shown in verse 4. Living lives, we sometimes experience these kinds of troubles that were driven by our disobedience, faults, and mistakes, but we complain about them and feel distressful of that. 

Then, it's time to remember God and His holy temple. Jonah was even saying that he would make good what he had vowed to God, and salvation came from God. How similar is this prayer to mine I have done when I was in trouble in my heart. I used to pray like this. I was100% obedient to God, letting all things such as pride, greedy, and anger, and so on., disappear from my heart. That is the moment of meeting God and listening to Him. 

Therefore, my life is always good because in case it is good, I am thankful to God, and if it is bad, I get closer to Him more and more, remembering and relying on Him. As such, my life has been always good because the Almighty God is my Father whom I depend on all through my life. He is my safe refuge and my complete comforter. What a wonderful life I am living! I hope and pray that more and more people see and taste this life like me.

I pray that the war in Ukraine would stop soon and get peace back and praise the Lord again. Lord, hear the voices of them in trouble and let the evil lose the power of it. I pray in Jesus' name, who listens to our prayer.