Jonah 2: Jonah Prays (Chantilly)

Jonah 1:6 ESV – The captain says, [Jonah] Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah 1:15-16 ESV – So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Matthew 12:40 ESV – For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

When you get tired of running, how do you pray?

Jonah Begins with Confession

The Honest Prayer of a Sinking Soul

Jonah 2:1-2 ESV – Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;…

Psalm 34:18 ESV – The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Jonah 2:2 ESV – “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;…

Tsarah

Jonah 2:2b ESV – out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Jonah’s Confession meets God’s Grace

Tsarah—the distress of child-birth

Sheol—the pit of Hell

Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV – But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him 

Romans 8:32 ESV – He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 

Romans 8:28 ESV – we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose 

Jonah’s Prayer Shifts– Praise for God’s Deliverance

Jonah 2:3-6 ESV – 

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;

Hebrews 13:5 ESV – …be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Psalm 3:3 ESV – But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Matthew 19:26 ESV – With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Jonah 2:7 ESV – 

When my life was fainting away,
I rememberedthe Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.

Psalm 37:25 ESV – I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

When times are going well, do you remember God?

Deuteronomy 8:17-20,You may say, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

Jonah 2:7 ESV – 

When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.

Finally, Jonah Prays His Commitment

Jonah 2:8-9 ESV – Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Jonah 2:9 ESV – 

But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

Jonah vows to listen to God’s voice