Jonah’s Prayer
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. (ESV)
(v.7) Jonah said that it seemed like life was ending. Jonah remembered God through his tough times. We need to always be dependent on God in everything we do. Constantly be praying. There’s a lot of bad things happen, but I need to have a positive mindset and know wheather it goes my way or not, God put me in that situation to bring me closer to Him and to do His will. Everything happens for a reason.
Amen brother KJ. Solid wisdom!
When Jonah betrayed God, God punished Jonah by putting Jonah in a whale…I think the whale is symbolizing that when we stumble, God is always there and puts reminders for us so we can get back on track again…and when Jonah prayed, God forgave him because our God is a loving god and even when i know in the future that im gonna get off track, god is always going to forgive me and still love me as much as he did before
yay great seeing you on here, for the first time =)
i knw u would love Revival X!!!!!!!!
nice seeing you on SOTD! keep it up :)
Hey, V! Great to see you on here, girl! I’m looking forward to getting to know you better this next week at Revival… :D
Great job posting on SOTD — Keep it up!
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.
Jonah is probably one of the bravest people I have ever heard of. If I was stuck in the belly of a whale, I unfortunately, would most likely freak out. Jonah, on the other hand, is calm and puts His trust in God by praying for God to help him find a way out instead of depending on himself to find a way out. As Gods people, God expects us to give us Him our 100% of trust. God also explains this in Hosea 12:6 “People of Jacob, you must return to your God. You must hold on to love and do what is fair. You must trust in your God always.” When it comes to prayer, I need to be more like Jonah, and instead of worrying putting my full faith and trust in Him that He will anwser my prayers! :)
that is way cool! Awesome!
what a beautiful prayer! It is amazing that through all Jonah has gone through he still praises the lord. I cant believe i wasnt the first to comment at 2 in the morning haha. We need to hold onto our love for christ and never let it go even through hard times. Its especially during these hard times that we need God the most. REVIVAL IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!
Jonah had the right response to trial and troubles. This is what I’m supposed to do when trials come my way. Jonah disobeyed and so God punished him (by having a big fish swallow him!) But because of the punishment Jonah repented and cried out to God. This is the effect God wants punishment to have on people. In the other minor prophets we have read, God punishes Israel and yet they don’t return to God. I want a soft heart so that when God punishes me I repent immediately and get right with God.
sounds good Meisha! <3
Jonah was…stuck inside a fish! Probably not one of his favorite situations. But he realizes that he’s going to need God to get out of it, so he calls on God for help, and that’s exactly what he gets:
“the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land”.
This also is a picture for the mercy of our God. While Jonah up to this point was completely disobedient, at the sound of his desperate plea, God still finds a way to forgive/ save him from it.
That’s the God we serve.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
While he is in the stomach of the whale he finds out that what he did was wrong and asked God for forgiveness
Jonah 2:6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
(was the bars the ribs of the fish?)
God saves us from the pit.
(from the belly of the whale Jonah cries )
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Only God gives us our salvation!
Hallelujah! :)
Praise Him!
HEY… I read
I like verse 7,”When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.”
I like this verse because it talks about Jonah remembering GOD. He remembered GOD in a time of distress. I need to make sure that I don’t only remember GOD in a time of stress but also throughout the whole day. I need to pray to GOD constantly and never stop.
CYA
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
No matter how many times I fail, God’s mercy still remains for me. If I come before Him bringing my all, He will change me and form me. He has been doing that for a year now. My prayers to God are definitely with a voice of thanksgiving for the kindness He has shown me. Salvation really does belong to the Lord! Praise Him forever!
2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
It’s amazing how there are billions of people living on this earth and yet God hears every one of our prayers. Sometimes, I think people think “God hates them” because He isn’t answering their prayer. But I think the reason for that is a. they aren’t being patient or b. they aren’t asking for something that is right in God’s eyes. I pray that I will always have my eyes on the prize and that I will pray for the things that will lead me closer to Him! I pray that today – as I am going to a camp with some new people – I will put on clothes that make others look good and love my neighbor as myself. I also pray that I will put aside all preconceived notions of other people that I have heard and that I will not judge. Basically, to be a light in the darkness!
I have a question. So there are parts in the Bible where God says He’s going to turn away from people who do such and such thing. Does God ever turn His back on us? And when? Is it when we aren’t truly repentent? And if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be for a while?
good comment,and also maybe God didnt answer there prayers cuz thats not his plan and he wants to do something better for them:)
Elizabeth, here’s another incredible question, reflecting your desire to seek after God and undertsand His ways. I am adding this question to our lunch topics :) Keep ‘em comin’, girl!
This mornings chapter is a big change from yesterdays! Today, Jonah has no where else to run to, so he finnaly realizes what God’s been trying to teach him all along, that the only thing that can save you is God! Yesterday, when God asked him to help others to realize this, Jonah fled! Jonah finnaly learns about God’s salvation and realizes that in tough times, God is the only tihng we should be turning to! We should be seeking God and His love and His forgivness in prayer when we mess up or find ourselves stuck in a problem! We must have the mindset that this life is for a bigger purpose than us and is bigger than us, therefore there is no way we can accomplish anything without God’s help!
Jonah 2:7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
God has sovereign control over all of his creation. Jonah was swallowed by this “fish” which derives from the Hebrew word “dag.” This word is actually more general than what it means today, it actually refers to just any aquatic beast. And finally giving into God’s authority, he prayed. Jonah’s prayer is not a request to be rescued from the belly of the fish, it is a prayer of thanksgiving for being rescued by the from the storm. Jonah stopped running from God and prayer for help, and God willingly gave it to him. God worked through Jonah to display his glory, and Jonah admits that it is only because of the Lord’s will, he is in the belly of this fish. Jonah’s life was “fainting away” both physically and spiritually. For one thing, he was in the belly of a whale, in a near death experience, and his life was slowly ending. Also, he was growing further and further apart from God with each passing day. Jonah went from the place of a prophet, where the Lord would actually speak to him, to a refugee, trying to escape this all-powerful God. His relationship with God was fainting away, and it is on;y in the belly of a wale will Jonah finally surrender. Jonah admits how far away he had ventured from the Lord (Spiritually). But in his distress, he remembered the Lord. Jonah’s prayer was heard by the Lord of all creation, this prayer entered the Lord’s holy temple. Jonah realizes that even when we sin against the Lord, He still hears our prayers and repentance of these sins. Our God is an amazing God who hears us, and allows us to have a relationship with Him.
This verse is applicable to Christians today, because we still have the same gracious God who gives us so much that we don’t deserve. Before we are Christians, our life is a meaningless strive for self-seeking and pleasure. And someone who isn’t saved by Christ, their life is just fainting away, here today gone tomorrow. But our merciful God sees past this sin if we recognize that we need Jesus as our redeemer. We are so sinful, yet our prayers reach the holy temple of the God of all the universe! He hears us, knows us, and loves us, even though we sin against him. I praise God for his incredible power and mercy. He rescued Jonah from his own sin- fleeing from the Lord, and uses the fish to demonstrate his awesome power. Similarly, the Lord also rescues us from our own sins, not because of what we have done, but because He is loving and gracious God who is worthy of all our praise!
Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
The power of prayer is incredible! Jonah called out to God and prayed to him from inside this huge fish and God saved him! I think that sometimes many people or so-called “Christians” don’t pray to God because they don’t really think he will do what they ask. They don’t have complete faith in his power and sovereignty. But prayer is SUCH an important thing that Christians need to be doing everyday, and God WILL answer your prayers!!! In Matthew 21:21 Jesus says, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” If we go to God, having complete faith in Him, he will answer our prayers! Now, this doesn’t mean that if we just ask for anything, like a new car, or for our teachers to not give us as much homework that God is going to give it to us. We should be praying for things according to His will and purpose! I need to be taking prayer more seriously and talking to God more and more everyday.
Great suggestion Mady! And the best question to pray is: “Lord, what do you want me to learn from being in the belly of the big fish?”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Verse 10 stood out to me because it shows how gracious and merciful God is when a sinner comes to Him in true repentance and desires to STOP sinning and start obeying. Jonah blew it for sure, but he recognized that he blew it and here God saves His life, which He did not need to do. It got me thinking how I must have a repentant heart like Jonah when I disobey God. I must not excuse my sin, blame it on someone else, or continue in it. The only right response when I sin is to quickly confess it and STOP doing it. Lord, please help me to see the ways I miss your mark every day and to turn from my sin and live a life of obedience to You!
A lot of people don’t think too highly about Jonah because of his disobedience in chapter 1 and his bad attitude in chapter 4. But this chapter shows why he was a prophet of the living God: JONAH KNEW THE SCRIPTURES!
As he prays to God from inside the fish, every single line is a direct quote or a reference to a verse in the psalms. A great study we did one time was to look up all the cross references from Jonah’s prayer and see how he is pulling thoughts from all over the place in the Psalms.
My prayer is that I would know God’s Word well too, so that when I am facing a trial or the Lord’s discipline in my life, I will respond according to what God says in the Bible! Just another great reason to be in the Bible every day here on SOTD!
See you at Beach Night on Wednesday 6 to 9 PM at Salt Creek and only 6 days til Revival X!
My prayer is that I would know God’s Word well too, so that when I am facing a trial or the Lord’s discipline in my life, I will respond according to what God says in the Bible! Just another great reason to be in the Bible every day here on SOTD
AMEN!! LOVE THIS!
Jonah 2:10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Then: God’s plan to get Jonah to repent and go to Nineveh worked. No need for the big fish anymore…
Always: God controls His creation and uses it to create circumstances to teach us and get us to repent. He uses a sliding scale, from gentle to harsh, to get us to wake up and choose to follow him.
Now: let’s respond to Him with His gentle word and not be hard headed and require Him to use more forceful training methods! If we put Him in His proper place and yield to His Spirit in us for all things it will be a LOT easier! Remember, He is coming soon and there is still time to repent and do it His way! He likes that!
What an amazing spiritual journey Jonah has gone on in just these first two chapters. From trying to run from God, to owning up to his mistake, and now to returning to the Lord. His repentance is made possible 1. because God provides forgiveness (Salvation belongs to the Lord!) and 2. because Jonah comes before the Lord with the right heart:
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Despite the situation, Jonah knows the first thing he must do is call out to the Lord. It can be very hard to do this, as often we turn to things of this world for comfort. These things not only cannot compare to what God provides, but the seeking of them takes away from something truly worth gaining:
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
Jonah’s trust in the Lord serves as an excellent example of the type of heart we must have when we come before the Lord. He has full trust in God even in this strange situation. Sometimes I have a hard time having complete trust when I pray, and Jonah’s example makes it seem silly when I am not fully dependent on Him. If Jonah can be completely dependent in the belly of a fish, it should seem much easier to be dependent in the minor setbacks of my own life.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
this is a great verse because we have to praise God Every Single day!! i am giving my all to him when i pray, and worship him!! and I’m also again giving him 101% to him
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
This reminds me of any situation I’m in and my first thought is to go and tell someone close. God should be the first one to pop into my mind that I can go to in prayer. God is so sovereign and faithful!!! How can I not turn to him in time of need? He does everything for my good and I have seen him answer prayers in my life and it has amazed me that he does actually listen to you and you need to be faithful in prayer because God is always faithful to us. I need to start praying for God to help me in times of need and that it will be his will that will play out in my life.
REVIVAL!!!!
Lauren! You totally read my mind!!!!! AMEN!!!!
AMen!! God is always there for us, and we should RUN TO HIM FIRST, for him to lead us in the right direction
1(A) My son,(B) if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice(C) for understanding,
4if you seek it like(D) silver
and search for it as for(E) hidden treasures,
5then(F) you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6For(G) the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is(H) a shield to those who(I) walk in integrity,
8guarding the paths of justice
and(J) watching over the way of his(K) saints.
This is Proverbs 2: 1-8
In verse 4 when it say I was driven away from your sight yet I shall look again. Jonah knows he did something wrong and feels bad. He had fallen in the hands of Saiten. So therefore when it says he was driven away from his sight it was Saiten blinding from what he should have done. When he was in the belly he didn’t loose his head. H prayed to God for forgiveness. God of course forgave him, but Jonah had to go to place God wanted him to go. I am sure this is a lesson that Jonah will never forget.
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
There was a lot of things highlighted about God’s character in this chapter. One of them is His ability to grant us repentance. Jonah, I am guessing, was probably really sorry about being disobedient during his near death drowning experience. So, out of his desperation, Jonah prays to God and instead of God rejecting His prayer, God listens to Jonah and even rescues Jonah with a giant fish! The really interesting thing about this though, is that this was all apart of God’s sovereign plan! In chapter 1 v. 17 it says that “the LORD appointed a great fish”, so God had planned this fish to swallow Jonah (even before Jonah’s repentant prayer), and if you were listening to Pastor Mike yesterday we know that it is God who gives us the ability to repent. So when Jonah repents, his repentance was granted by God (since it was given by God), and his deliverance was also granted by God; everything revolves around God. Since it is God that sovereignly gives us the ability to repent wouldn’t it make sense that He would grant that repentance every single time? Our God is a faithful and good God that we can trust in to hear our prayers and grant us repentance!
amen hunter! great comment :)
this is how all of us should be when life gets tough. how jonah knows that god has done this to him his first response is to pray. which is much different to how most of us are. most of us when something goes wrong we blame god instead of praying to him and we know if we ask we will recieve if its according to god’s will so if we dont recieve that means that whatever is wrong in are life is god’s will.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
It is important to remember that no matter how hard life gets to return to the Lord, because through him all things are possible. He can change even the worst circumstances possible.
Good seeing you this past weekend Bill. Way to quote Matt 19:26.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
I really like this verse, because to me, it is a reminder that when our lives are fainting away, we can remember the Lord, and He’ll be by our side & help us through! We are not alone in these trials. Ever.
in verses 8-10 jonah talks about how people who worship idols end up forsaking thier hopw, but those who trust inthe Lord come out of situatuions that are very bad like Jonah getting out of the fish
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
I liked this chapter alot, and how Jonah knows that Jesus is the Lord and how we all need a knock on the head sometimes from God. And how in verse 10, God spoke to the fish,n it vomited him out on to the dry land, so Jonah will now live for the Lord, and make decipels!
LORD COME SOOOOON!!!!!!!!!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Wow! Jonah reacted in just the right way! When he was inside the belly of the fish, he began to pray to God! I think that is so awesome because when hard times and trials may come my way, sometimes I begin to worry about what is going to happen next and how I can fix the problem, but I need to remember the Lord! After all, He puts trials in our lives for a reason and He wants us to come to Him for help, telling Him that we need Him. Jonah realized that he was very wrong for disobeying the Lord and cried out to Him for help immediately. I want to be more like Jonah, not only remembering the Lord when my life is fainting away, but also when everything is going right!
haha i love how 2 days in a row u comment a min after me!!
and amen to your comment!!
haha i know I noticed that too!
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
we need to be like Jonah, and when we realize that we did something wrong, we HAVE to ask for forgiveness! i pray to God every single day and everyday i always ask for forgiveness because everyday im not perfect, but i always want to try my best to be as perfect as possible like Christ.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Jonah knew that he needed to be right with the LORD. He knew he did bad and he knew the God is the only one who could fix it. Even in the belly of a great fish he gave thanks to the LORD. Even when I am in tough times I should always five thanks to the LORD.
TRUE STUFF! So, just curious: did you mean we should always high five the Lord, or give thanks to the Lord? Haha! Just messing’ with you, Bells!
I love how Jonah saw God’s graciousness in having the fish swallow him. He realized that he would have drowned if the fish hadn’t appeared. As many of you have already noted, Jonah had a repentant and thankful heart. Rather than despairing in the belly of the great fish, Jonah recognizes God’s salvation and mercy and repents of his sin. I want to follow Jonah’s example when I need to repent. Repent immediately and with a thankful heart.
I remember a while ago, Pastor Bobby taught us that all of Jonah’s prayer is quoted directly from Scripture. This was really convicting for me; I know a lot of Scripture, but not well enough to be able to quote it like this. And if God and His Word are the most important things in my life like I say they are, I should never be content with complacency when it comes to studying His Word.
There are so many advantages to knowing the Bible. FIrst and foremost, the Scriptures reveal to us the nature of God. So the more I know the Bible, the better understanding I have of God, and the more I will fear Him and praise Him as I should. Scripture is also very helpful in fighting temptation. Jesus quoted the Old Testament when facing Satan himself, setting an example for me to follow. Memorizing specific passages dealing with sin I am struggling with will help me to realize the sinfulness of my sin and prevent me from falling into it.
Great post Mike. This is also my prayer.
Seriously, when I read this again, it brings tears to my eyes. It’s like the prayer of my heart written down, I just love it! God restore me, bring me back to life, and cleanse me! Maranatha! :)
“7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;”
I am so thankful that God gives us repentance and grace despite our sins. Our job as Christians is to constantly be improving our habits regarding sin, yet even when we do fall into temptation, the Lord picks us back up again. As I’m at orientation for college this week, I am seeing the many lost souls who will giving their lives to idols and worldly things, yet I am determined to stand strong in Christ and shine a light for him. I want to “sacrifice” to my savior with a “voice of thanksgiving” :)
Keep Standing Firm Alyssa!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah obviously felt bad for disobeying God, and as he is sitting in the belly of a whale and about to die he cries out to God. And the Lord saves Him, even after he rejected God’s command and ran away from him. I think the important thing about Jonah’s disobedience is that it leads to repentance. I know a lot of time, that is the case but sometimes i know i disobey and am punished, but i don’t get anything out of it. I think its really cool how God planned it out all along so that Jonah would flee from God but in the end, he realized what he does and God takes compassion on Him. This really shows how undeserving we are of God’s grace.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah is stuck inside the belly of the big fish and is praying to the Lord. Here he says that he felt his life was off-course. He thought his life was fainting away, that he was closing in toward death, and that life had begun to lose meaning. However, it is then that he remembered the Lord. And when he remembered the Lord, he called out to him in prayer. He had previously been down in the dumps. He was questioning his own life, as well as life in general and was feeling powerless. However, in realizing how weak he is, he came upon remembering the Lord. He prayed to God, knowing that despite his own weakness, God has all strength.
Whenever I’m down or feeling low, I want to be like Jonah in seeking out the Lord. Often times it is when things are bad that people don’t want to turn to God. It’s easy to love God when you have everything, but not so much when things aren’t as good. In fact, hard times usually encourage people to depend only on themselves to get out of the rut that they are in. However, I need to seek out God above all else, even in circumstances where things are not going my way. I need to always keep in mind my own weakness and look towards the Lord to find strength! When I am feeling weak, I need to draw near to the Lord. I need to turn to him in prayer. He will always work out what is truly best, whether I see it that way or not at the time.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
So Jonah got eaten by the whale. He recognizes that it was his fault and he deserved it. So he accepts the fact that he should have listen to God in the first place. And even when he’s being digested in a whale’s stomach, he says that God will provide salvation. And He did! The fish spit him out. Even when we get into situations that aren’t the best, God will always help us out. Jonah got eaten, I’m pretty sure i won’t be going through something that bad, but even if i did, God would still be with me. And He already has provided salvation, Jesus Christ!
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Here Jonah does what the Lord has been trying to teach Israel throughout her entire history: Sacrifice must come from the heart (here Jonah will sacrifice with thanksgiving), and the Lord does not like lip service. As many of people have already noted Jonah, as a prophet of God, knew the Scriptures very well. He also had a good understanding of them. He knew that God would not accept a prayer or sacrifice if it was from an empty hear or if it was of lip service. Thus Jonah throws himself at God’s feet and cries out to Him in distress. Jonah knows that “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). I need to follow Jonah’s example in this regard. I need to passionately seek God and turn to Him in prayer frequently. I must also obey Him and offer myself as a sacrifice to Him (Romans 12:1) with a pure and grateful heart.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land
Jonah though had almost been killed he was grateful and thankful to the Lord. The Lord saw Jonah’s had faith in God and let him live. We need to have faith in the Lord through all circumstances.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
A lot of times when people are put through trials to test them and strengthen them, they curse God because they are “uncomfortable”. But really we should be thanking God for all that He has done! He loves us so much that He wants to make us stronger in our faith, and He always, ALWAYS provides a way out. What an awesome God!
Right on!
One thing I got out of this chapter was that I need to be like Jonah and have a better more positive out look on things. When He was in that whale he could have been extremely up set and thinking he was gunna die and negative about it all. But instead He cried out to God, not mad at Him, but trusting and knowing that God would take care of Him. This is a great example of how we should react to struggles!
Maranatha!!!
Lovin’ it, girl!
Keep up the good comments Kellie!
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
This is really a beautiful description of salvation. Even though Jonah is talking literally about his time at sea, I can relate with these same ideas before I was rescued by God and given salvation. I remember that moment when the weeds were wrapped around my head and I was drowning to the bottom, and in the midst of that time the Lord rescued me. He showed me the wickedness of my own heart as in a mirror and it was dark, and I was sinking, and just when I was about to sink to the bottom he rescued me from the deep dark seas and I was saved. My soul was changed forever, and my eyes were opened to the reality of my own soul. Dark, desperatly, sick and wicked to the core.
Praise you of LORD who stretched out your mighty hand and pulled me from the pit. I am so gratedul that you saved me, and you heard my cry for help. PRAISE YOU LORD JESUS. Salvation belongs to the LORD!
Awesome comment Alicia! I too am so thankful for the miracles God has worked in my life by saving me!
I love this, Alicia.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Steadfast love comes only from God. Idols can never satisfy. And when Jonah repents and comes back to God he comes back with a voice of thanksgiving because of who God is. These verses just remind me how I need to be giving thanks all the time to God because He alone has shown me steadfast love, going so far as to face the Father’s wrath for me who was His enemy. May you be praised for your steadfast love LORD!
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish
Even though this is the first verse of the chapter, it caught my attention right away. Jonah pray from inside of a fish, and the Lord heard Him. This reminds me of Psalm 139:7-8 which says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” It is so amazing to know that no matter where I am, God is with me and will hear my prayers. This compels me to pray more since I know God will hear me!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Okay so pretty much the Lord is amazing! After Jonah disobeys the Lord, he still loves his and saves him. I have definitaly been in Jonahs situation and what I have learned is the I can NOT live life without the Lord. It is sad to think that I do not praise him enough. So many people pull out the grace card & they let the “world” get to them. The truth here is, we all need to be praising God for what he has done, I think Jonah realized after the Lord saved him how he is EVERLASTING!
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Jonah, know he is nothing compared to the Lord, is praying for forgiveness of his wrong and bringing the Lord praise from the inside of a giant fishes stomach. He keeps his faith in God even when in the first chapter, he failed the test of the Lord to see if he really trusted God. We need to make sure we always trust God and not freak out over the tiniest things in this life, while Jonah was in the belly of a fish.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
I’m so thankful for a God that forgives me no matter what I’ve done or what the circumstance was. Jonah was in the belly of the whale and He didn’t curse God, instead He was praying to the LORD and asking for forgiveness. I need to work on this, no matter what my life’s circumstance is, good or bad, I want to go to the LORD and praise Him. It is so easy to loose focus of God in the circumstances or life, I won’t let that happen.
!!!MARANATHA!!!
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
I think this verse is very well stating that if you love something more that you love God you are making an idol of it and you are abandoning you hope of steadfast love of/to God. 9″…Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Well I for one have most likely never been in a hard spot like that before. But what amazes me is that using the story pastor mike told us sunday, how is it that we are like rats, and God told Jonah to go to a city and preach about him but instead he disobeyed the almight God, GOD could have just killed Jonah and been done with it, but he showed his mercy,and gave him another chance. I have never been in a place that bad as a whale stomach, but there has been times when I prayed and it is like God just for gave me, when I dont deserve it.(REVIVAL)
This makes me think back to David’s prayer in Psalms 40 which is:
1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
This is similar to Jonah but when I read Psalm 40, it is as if I had no where else to stand, no where to put my feet and trust that, the sin I was in would hold me up, but God lifted me from that pit, he put my feet on his solid rock, on his solid rock I can stand, and every time you try and wonder off you fall into clay, or sinking sand, as the hymn goes.
whY God showed his mercy on Jonah, well so that his story could be told to people all around the world about how God showed mercy on him, and saved him. Why did GOd show mercy on me? So that I can go out and share his mercy with as many people as I can, and if your not doing to same then you seriously need to rethink you life.
Mmm, that’s a really good comment that made a ton of sense!! Your words were totally honest, and even your name shows how undeserving we are of God’s mercy, and yet we receive it anyway..and GLADLY. :)
That last part about telling everyone I can really convicted and encouraged me! Thanks for the admonishing!
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
My favorite part of this verse is the very last part when Jonah says “and you heard my voice.” It reminds me of God’s incredible mercy and how it never ends! God was right there listening and waiting for Jonah. God could see Jonah called out to Him with a repentant heart and took no hesitation in forgiving Jonah. Time and time again we will all sin, because we obviously aren’t perfect, but every time we come to God in repentance, he forgives! Unlike us, God will never ignore us when we pray to Him and doesn’t hold grudges when we sin against Him. I need to be more thankful for all the grace and mercy God shows me. I also want to be more like Jonah and always be willing to repent and call out to God when I sin because he will forgive me every time!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah failed to listen to the Lord’s calling for him to go to Nineveh and speak to the people. After being swallowed by the big fish, he cried out to the Lord in prayer and the Lord heard him and made the fish spit him out. Sometimes we sin against the Lord when He calls us to do things in His glory but don’t do as He commands , as did Jonah, and we must come to Him in prayer for repentance. By God’s grace we will be forgiven and set free to do glorious things for Him.
Vs8-9
These verses refer to me as an orange county boy. We are so blessed and spoiled where we live. We don’t literally hold up things as idols and worship them, but we do tend to hold things higher in our eyes than we do God. Sometimes it takes something like being swallowed by a large fish to open our eyes. Luckily for us, God provides other ways. I need to start putting God at 1st place in my life and focusing on Him from the moment I get up, to the second I fall asleep.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
First of all, wow, Jonah had a great first response to being stuck in a fish, praying!
Mine would probably be panic, then think how painful it’d be to be digested.
I need to follow in Jonah’s footsteps.
Not the “hide from my problems and God” thing, but PRAYING first thing when I’m in a tough situation. ANY situation, really.
Because I can’t make decisions without God’s influence on it first.
Second, it’s amazing what prayer can do.
God hears prayer anywhere and everywhere and always answers it.
Jonah was in a fish’s stomach, and he prayed, and God delivered.
Prayer is so powerful, and SO easy to do.
Its power needs to be accessed daily and constantly.
Today, I’m going to have an ongoing conversation with God about all the thing I’m feeling and what I need help in and decisions I need to make and pray for His guidance in every single one of those things.
I totally agree!! My first response woulda been to panic but Jonah had the perfect response, to pray!!!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
The Lord can comfort us in our time of need. When we start to drift away from the Lord, He can show us His great power and pick us up again. This is the great power of the Lord and shows how we need Him in our lives to survive well on this earth.
I decided to make a blog! Check it out! Its my first time!
Haha yes I love this chapter! I also remember when we did the study on this chapter- how every line is a reference to Psalms. Then we tried to make our own song of salvation to the Lord using the Psalms, it was epic!
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
An interesting thing about verse 3 is how it says that God is the one who threw him into the disaster. He doesn’t just rescue us from the difficult times in our lives, God actually plans them. Its hard to try and think of God as a lovable grandfather when you think about this truth. God, without causing our sin, uses it to His glory! If our sin leads us to a bad situation, God still uses it to make us turn back to Him! Its crazy to think that God is this sovereign! He controls absolutely everything, even sinful situations. In the end, it always works out for my good and his glory. I need to remember that when I am having a rough time, my first reaction should be what Jonah does- turn to God and take refuge in His salvation.
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
This is a great chapter and a great prayer! This verse stood out to me because it shows how trustworthy God is and how he can completely turn our live around. Jonah says that God brought his life from the pit. Jonah was at the bottom of the pit and God brought him up out of that bad time. I was in sin before i became a Christian and God brought me out of that sin. Just like me, when Jonah cried out to God, God spit him out the whale! God works in great ways!! Praise the Lord<3
Thanks for encouraging me sister. I love you. Great comment!!! This was such an amazing and encouraging and perfect chapter. <3
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Two things strike me:
1. Even though we find ourselves in the dark, not knowing where we are going-perhaps under God’s discipline for trying to skirt His will and use for our lives-GOD knows where we are going. He wanted Jonah someplace, and He directed the whale to carry Jonah to where He ultimately wanted Jonah to be, to ultimately live out His will in obedience.
2. All God has to do is SPEAK things into existence. That blows my mind. He brings things to be out of NOTHING. He is huger than I can ever conceive, and sometimes, I wonder if it’s even sinful for me to TRY and conceive how huge He is: His power, His dominion, His presence being everywhere, His love, His mercy, His grace, His providence, His sovereignty…to try and equate Him to anything I know or may be vaguely familiar with has got to be incredibly insulting. I need to be mindful of the fact that God is way bigger than I can fathom, and that any attempt I make to ascertain this reality must be an act of humility and worship, and NOT an attempt to personify God and bring Him down to a level so that I might relate to Him better.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
It sounds kinda insane that God would cast Jonah into the sea and into the mouth of the fish. But God puts those times in our life, to show us something, not to make us mad for no reason. Its so important that I realize that when God puts trials into my life, they are there for a reason, not because God feels like it or something. Its also important that I need to always be knowing that God is the first one I should come to, in my time of feeling like no one is around or something like that. Its so easy for us to become self centered and basically look for people to pity us. When we are feeling down, its not right for us to bring our sorrow upon others and want others to feel bad for me. I need to go straight to God and know that He is number one when I am feeling down, and He can bring me back up again and help me through my problems.
I love this. This is like the most straight forward and literal example of God’s forgiveness, understanding, compassion, and mercy out there. In short, its the best example of God. God brings us down in our lives to bring us up again. Its got to get worse before it gets better. And God will always pull through for us in the way that He knows is best:) God will NEVEr fail. I know I have a million examples of this and so does every one else, probably. It always amazes me at how incredibly amazing God is in these ways. No need for anxiety. PRAISE THE LORD!!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
This stuck out to me because it is really easy for all (or at least most) of us. In hard times of temptation or trials, one person who should always be willing to look to is God. One thing I really learned over these past months is that God really is in control of everything in my life and I should always go to him when I am in despair.
But another important thing here is that Jonah didn’t just come back to God because times were tough and then forget him but instead he fully gave in to God (verse 9). I pray that I would be like Jonah in this situation where I would always return to God but not only in the times of need but also in the times of peace.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish
It’s so easy to slam Jonah for his disobedience in the 1st chapter, & especially for his hard-heart to come in chapter 4, BUT how different are we from him? How often do I wait until God has my full attention because of a bad situation I’m in, & THEN I turn to him, when I’ve exhausted all of MY resources. God wants us to turn to him first, always. He’s not a backup plan for when my plans fail–he’s THE plan I need to follow. Lewis said it well: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Jonah’s pain was enough for him to repent of his sin & do God’s bidding to Ninevah, but it seems like it would take more to change his heart to share God’s desire to forgive & show mercy.
2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
It’s amazing to see how much God is a part of our lives. Out of all the people in the world, God loves each of us and listens to us equally. God is always present and waiting for us to call out his name. Calling on Gods name should not just be when we are in distress, but also when things are smooth sailing. If God is wih us and hears us always, the leas we can do is talk wih him. Continuously staying in prayer throughout the day and talking to God would strengthen everyones relationship with him.
Wow I never knew that the minor prophets could be so good! I always thought they were full of God punishing people. But this prayer by Jonah is so encouraging!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
I know probably 902374821 people on Sotd today have had the same comment as me. But the thing that stuck out most to me in this chapter was Jonah’s trust in the Lord. When God puts me through tough trials, I am constantly finding myself seeking advice and satisfcation through other people…but Jonah shows us here that only God can deliver!
I love his prayer here about how God is a mighty and powerful God who can save anyone from harm!
Wow!! This chapter is really cool! Jonah is in the belly of a great fish and is praising God! He realizes that God saved him from death by drowing and death by fire(spiritually) and is actually not too upset about being inside this big fish. I never got that from when I read this story a billion and one times in my children’s bible. In my study bible, it goes on to say how Jonah recognizes that God hates his sin and doubt and so is punishing him for a while now, but he is so happy to be alive that he is gratefully accepting it also knowing that God loves him and this punishment is going to be helpful to his growth! wow… I want to trust in God like this!! and be grateful even in circumstances like these!!! Although I doubt I’m going to find myself in the belly of a whale any time too soon…. :)
Which also got me thinking, wouldn’t the fish have digested him?? Or was he stuck in it’s throat? But verse 10 says it vomited Jonah implying the stomach.. or was it simply another indescribable merciful miracle on God’s part that we can’t understand with the sinful mental capacity we have? Can someone answer please?:D
Undoubtedly, this was an all-time low in Jonah’s life. Running from the Lord, being ashamed of the Lord in the company of the sailors, and now he is inside a whale!
And this trial was altogether orchestrated by God for a greater purpose.
One thing that really stuck out to was that in Jonah’s seemingly hopeless low, he prayed to God and the Lord delivered him, from what Jonah describes is comparable to death.
Haven’t we all had low-points in our life? (I’m not talking about habitual sin, but possibly intense trials or struggles with sin). I know I have, but God is full of grace and is working out everything for the sanctification of his saints. So I need to remember that even as trials seemingly as bad as Jonah’s come “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” I need to remember to pray.
Jonah said in his darkest day:
“When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple” (Jonah 2:7).
I read…
When Jonah was swallowed up by the whale, God immediately got his attention. So he did the right thing and prayed and asked for forgiveness. Sometimes when God shows me my sin, through punishment or through other means of realization, I will be proud and try to not think about it instead of being humble and asking for forgiveness from God. Let us be humble and follow Christ’s great example of humility of coming to earth and dying on the cross.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Lets put it all out there for God unlike the ” apple employee ” in Pastor Bobby’s sermon.
Great to see you commenting Brady! And glad that you are listening to the sermons on the podcast!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
this chapter is so cool cuz even though Jonah ran away from God, He is merciful and rescues him with the giant fish, even though jonah didnt really deserve it.
In times when I was in bad situations, this verse encourages me to just leave everything to God; whether simple or complicated, big or small, or even if its good or bad.
5 the waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought me um from he pit, o Lord my God. 7 when my life was fainting away, I remembered m Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
At one point when my life was fainting away, it took me a while to go to the lord. I was angry and depressed for a very long time, and Still struggle with it. But When I finally went to the lord, he relieved me of my pain and filled me with joy. I need to trust in my Savior! That is something that I really need to get right. My little pea sized human brain can not comprehend that the Almighty holy sovereign God would love me, care for me, forgive me, and save me!!!! It is rediculous for me not to trust in the lord. Here Jonah goes through some crazy situations, and he goes to the lord. It took him a while, but when he got swallowed by a fish he go it. When Jonah goes to he lord, he delivered!!!!! The lord is faithful. Jonah goes to he lord, he doesn’t get Abby or depressed about his situation, but he cries out to the lord, from he belly of a fish. This is a great example of what I need to do when I feel like I have hit rock bottom.
Great comment Jo!(: its great to see you back on sotd<3
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
Because of Jonah’s disobedience, God caused a big fish to swallow him. Here, inside the stomach of this smelly creature, Jonah is praying and crying out to God. Even though most people would be freaking out and thinking they were going to die, Jonah knew that all of this had happened because of his unwillingness to listen to the Lord. Once he cried out to the Lord, the Lord heard him and knew that Jonah had follow His commands from now on; so as we see in verse 10 God has the fish throw up Jonah.
So often, I think that when we go through hard circumstances, we forget about God for a little bit (or sometimes a while), because we are busy worrying instead of going to God. I know we could all work on going to God with all of our troubles, because He is the One who is in control of everything, and whatever His plan is for our lives should be okay with us.
~~~~~~~~~~6 more days until REVIVAL X~~~~~~~~~~
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Wow, this is an awesome Scripture-filled prayer to the Lord! I love it when we read a prayer like this one from the Bible and can see how much of Scripture the writer knew, same thing with Hannah and Mary’s prayers. Something this made me consider is how Biblical my prayers are. Since our Girl’s Workshop on prayer I’ve been really practicing more Biblical prayer modeling it after the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6. This chapter was a great reminder for me that I never want my prayers to be a long list of my requests to God but really me responding to him and all he communicates to me through his Word.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
it is amazing to think that even though God is so powerful and mighty over us He still yearns to awnser our prayers. not only that he demands our prayers. it is sooo awesome that one of the things He wants is to talk to us!!! yet still we find and excuse to not pray. that makes nooo sense. i need to understand how unworthy i am to ba able to pray to God and how unworthy i am to worship Him! it is such an amazing blessing.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!.
If I didn’t believe in God or the Bible’s authenticity, I would think that this story is weird as no other. But thanks be to God, that I do believe in God and that this story is legitimate. It’s weird to imagine this, but just take the situations and try to understand this. Jonah directly disobeyed God, God punishes Jonah and a big fish swallows Jonah, Jonah repents and prays to God, the big fish spits out Jonah through God’s divine interference. Jonah makes some remarks that I don’t think a lot of us have had to face: “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me” , “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever” I don’t think we have ever felt this way, but we do understand that life seems to be desolate, yet we still should seek out God. And God is faithful to all who trust in Him and do not “pay regard to vain idols”. God is amazing, TO THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM. So many times people read these and think, “Oh, God loves me and never abandons me.” Yes, unless you’re an idol worshiper or denier of Christ. This is so key to understand this for most if not all the promises of the Bible.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
What a amazing passage, at first glance its good and the more you look at it, the better it gets! We have such an amazing God!!!! First off nobody deserved His perfect and holy mercy yet he sent His only son to die for us so that we can live a life for Christ and be saved from hell. We can have a wonderful relationship with God and pray to him any time anywhere, He is always there for us and has forgiven us our sins. It doesnt get much better than that! Praise God for showing us his love even when we hated him!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
I have always heard the story of Jonah, but never actually read it straight from scripture, and I am loving it! So far, through reading the few minor prophet books we have, there is definitely a universal theme of God’s judgment and punishment against sin, but then his compassion and mercy to His people. This is exactly the same situation with Jonah. He directly disobeyed God in chapter one by not going to Ninevah as God had told him, but in chapter two, after being swallowed by a fish, Jonah sees his disobedience and repents to God. I like verse two because it says that Jonah “called out to the Lord” and that “he [God] answered me.” Even out of Jonah’s disobedience, God still answered his cry of repentence and answered him. Our God is so faithful! I want to quickly recognize the sin in my life so that I can repent. Lord, I pray that you would point out the sin in my life so that I can come to repentence of it and turn to you. Thank you for your never-ending mercy!
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Great verse! It is a comfort for me when there are trials and issues in my life to turn to the Lord in my prayer because He is always there and always hears me!
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
At first Jonah was worried about what might happen to Him so he tried running away from God which is not the smartest thing to do. After God punishes him, he repents and prays this awesome prayer to God. As soon as he finishes praying God answers Him by letting him get vomited on to land. This last part of the prayer stood out to me. It remined me of Pastor Bobby’s sermon this weekend. We need to be willing to sacrifice everything we have for God because He is all that matters. We need to have nothing left on the shelf!!!!!
Its so absurd reading this. The fact that a man was in the belly of a whale then prayed to God and he got spit out. The whole thing is some wacky story but the fact is: ITS TRUE! Sometimes reading stories out of the bible like this I stick to the mindset that its a story but I need to remind myself that these things did happen even if I can not relate to the certain situation. But what I can relate to is the reaction to Jonah’s problem. When everything was going horrible for Him he took time to pray. Right now in my life I am going through a huge trial and I so want to just stick my head in the sand so bad. Life happens and incredibly differcult things come with it but I need to pray about it, deal with it, and move on. But thats easier said than done. I pray that God can deliver me from the “whale” that I find myself in and that I can have a good attitude about it.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Wow! What a prayer! But it is such a reminder of who God is and how He is there and Jonah knows that. God threw Jonah into the sea but then brings him back. He had a consequence and God is God and was showing Jonah that he can’t hide. What an awesome God we serve!
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
-Wow this is kinda crazy. I haven’t been on SOTD in a long time :/ … and the day i go on, its exactly what i needed to hear!
Jonah was so distressed… who wouldn’t be? He’s inside a fish!! Yet, he was in that fish because God had a plan, and God’s plan i always perfect. Trusting in God gave him strength and God saved him! Going through trials is NOT fun, but knowing that out of it will come God’s perfect plan gives me so much peace.
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
The world sees this as foolishness. Without a God this would be foolishness. Logically, however, it is very possible. If there is a God who is outside the laws of physics and the natural world than this is easy. I have tried to explain the logic of this to many people who can’t wrap their minds on it. They are smart people too. But human wisdom cannot persuade men. Only God can persuade men. Use scripture in evangelism always.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
God’s discipline is just and right for correcting us and making us more what he wants us to be. And though discipline is never really fun, the trials we are put through are useful for drawing us closer to God and revealing to us who He is more than ever. Jonah responds by praising God for His salvation; that’s the right reaction- God deserves praise in every and all circumstances!
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
This jsut goes to show that you really can pray anywhere. Even though Jonah was alone and could focus because there wasn’t anyone around, he was still inside a stinkin fish, and it probably smelled bad. I always wondered how he breathed down there, beause if it wasnt a whale (oxygen breathing mammal) he probably didn’t have anything to breathe, as well as being cramped. But Jonah didn’t let the smell or the stomach juices distract him, he still saw the importance of praying.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
I like this verse! People who live for the hear and now loose the love of the Lord that will last forever! This verse just really stood out to me!
Like the above comment, this comment reminded me of Psalm 40.
40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
God has rescued me from a fate much worse than drowning at the bottom of a stormy ocean. He saved me from my sin and its penalty!
Verse 3 makes me think about the singing at Revival! If we have really been rescued from such a terrible position, then we have such a reason to sing!
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
God is our first love. We need to stay pure and true to Him and for Him.
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.”
It’s pretty awesome that God hears our prayers no matter where we are…even at the bottom of the ocean. Even after Jonah disobeys God and runs away to Nineveh, when he turns to God in repentance God listens to him. So encouraging to know that he always hears my prayers.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
being consistent in praying is something we should always be doing, but we’re not always going to get our prayers answered right away. It’s God’s will that determines when our prayers will be answered, and He does that because He is just. We can’t be let down thinking that He isn’t hearing our prayers or something – because He always is. An answer to prayer may take years or only a day, but we need to have faith that He will answer them according to His will.
Verse 2
Jonah was praying inside of a big fish. He knew his sin was wrong and even though he was faced with the challenge of being inside a fish he thanked God for everything in his life. I liked this about Jonah because he could of easily died being inside a fish for a couple a days but all he did was pray. In times of hardships and distress I want my first resource to be going straight to God,because no matter when or where we can pray to our God.
Original comment lost… Ugh.
Anyway, what stood out to me was God’s power/control of everything (a demonstration of how high and awesome He is, truly beyond our finite comprehension) and His amazing mercy, how He hears Jonah’s cry and rescues him, even though Jonah deserved nothing but the punishment. That’s how God is: almighty and above (so much so that we cannot even understand), and yet gracious and merciful to sinners. It is incredible, and yet so often it seems that my mind finds better things to seek and meditate on. But I want to keep this mindset, because it is the truth! LORD, please keep my mind fixed ever on Your love and Jesus Christ.
I hate it whe that happens Ian! Way to bounce back strong bro. I write my posts in word and save them all to my documents. No more lost posts!
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
This is a great verse. Jonah has a great attitude in adversity. First, he repents of his sin, and then he gives thanks to the LORD for all that he has done. He does not despair, or be angry with GOD.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
The Lord always answers, He is always right by my and everyone else’s side. We need to always look to God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah is making a wise and humble prayer in this chapter. Those should be adjectives that constitute all prayers, but they are especially relevant for the situation Jonah is in. At this point, Jonah has just directly disobeyed God, and as a result been swallowed by an enormous fish. Not exactly your average good situation. Despite all this, Jonah comes to his senses, and realizes he is at fault here. In this particular part of Jonah’s prayer, he is recalling all the times the Lord has dragged him out of dire situations that seemed hopeless. Jonah is remembering how awesome his God is, despite how much of a loser he is at this time.
I need to be having times of prayer similar to Jonah has. Humbly coming before the Lord, acknowledging all the incredible things God has done for him, but nonetheless pleading for God’s help. No matter what kind of tough situation I am in, I have God. It doesn’t matter how mad I’ve screwed up, as is clear here in Jonah, but what does matter is that I keep the Lord as #1 in my life and plead for his guidance. I know that he is always with me.
Jonah 2
2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
The Lord literally took Jonah to the depths of hell (Sheol) to show him that sin is punishable by death. Jonah cried out to God in repentance and the Lord heard his prayer of faith. God is faithful to those who call upon His name in faith and turn away from their selfish desires. I love how in verse 9 Jonah talks about upholding to the vow that he made to God. He made a covenant to God submitting to His will.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.
Every conversion starts with a death to one’s self and total submission to the will of God. This chapter reminded me of my conversion and how God raised me up from the depths of my own personal Sheol. God heard my cry and lifted me out from death into life thru Jesus Christ.
7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
Thank you Jesus!
PRAYING FOR REVIVAL
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
god saved Jonah from the pit. God saved him and as a specific purpose for Jonah. And God is doing anything it takes to get Jonah to do his will. even tough Jonah tries to avoid God, he epically fails.
God saved me and all other christians from the “pit” a.k.a hell. God knows exactly what he wants for my life. I didn’t deserve this grace whatsoever. I deserve to go to hell and burn for all of eternity. I am so grateful that God sent His son to take the wrath in my place. I now have to go and spread this amazing news. this chapter also shows me that when God calls i NEED to be ready and listen. I need to be ready at anytime to go to any place.
MARANATHA!!!!!
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
It’s cool how quickly God is willing to give Jonah a second chance. after seeing the some of the power and wrath of God in yesterday’s SOTD it’s cool to see how he wants others to ask for his forgiveness and will be willing to grant their requests. It’s never too late for someone to repent of their sins.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah is inside the belly of a huge fish…and He is thinking of the Lord. If I were in that situation, I would probably spend most of my time thinking about how to get out, what’s going to happen to me, why did this happen to me, or any other unfaithful “freaking out”. I know everyone else has said it, but I need to have more faithful responses to everyday trials/tricky situations.
Wow…when I wrote “he” talking about Jonah, I put “He”….I think that was a typo!!!!
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
Jonah was at the end of himself. He realized that he had no hope apart from God. And he a great thing: he turned back to God. He “remembered” God. He put his trust once again in the Lord, and had confidence that God would receive him. We can have this same confidence when we trust in the Lord. We can always turn away from what we’ve done in the past and turn to God for the future. He is willing and ready to save!
Sorry it’s late…
I like verse two. To me it show through no matter what God is there for you. But it also shows for me that God is always watching and knowing you wants and prayers good and bad. But this one verse is just encouraging me to not be afraid even if I was in a giant fish…that God is always with me :)
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah remembered God in time of trial and dispair!! It is so easy to get down on yourself and become depressed when faced with a trial, but God is always there waiting for you to give your problems to Him. Jonah knew God was there and all he had to do was ask Him for His help!!
God will answer our prayers if the intent is right!!
God please give me the strength to always seek you first in everything I do and do not just ask for help in the hard tims, but remember your love for me always!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
woops!! I first intended to right something different with the word *strength*!! The words I meant to use were wisdom and understanding!! :)
Wow. I’m sure that we’ve all had those moments in life when we feel down on our knees and hopeless. Rather than looking to others, to ourselves, in frustration, we need to turn to the Lord with HOPE, PRAYER, and FAITH. Jonahs prayer is a perfect example of what to do in lifes darkest moments. We may not physically be stuck in he belly of a whale, but we may sure feel like it. Turn to the LORD. Always.