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  • “Praying under Pressure”

    Jonah 1:17-2:10

     

     

     17And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

    2 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.

     

    1. You can pray in a hostile location. (vs.1)

                Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.

     

    1. You can pray with an honest disposition (vs.2-3)

    “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.

     

    1. You can pray with heartfelt contrition (vs.4-6)

    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.

     

    1. You can pray with hopeful expectation (vs.7-10)

    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.

     

     

    Jeremiah 2:13- “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, The fountain of living waters, to carve out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water.