Jonah 2

"When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple." (v. 7)

Too often it takes tragedy in our lives before we will "remember the Lord" and call upon Him in prayer. Nonetheless, God hears the prayer of the desperate. Jonah said he prayed "out of the belly of hell" and God heard Him.  He will hear us when we think we are in the belly of hell too.

I am reminded of my year in Viet Nam. Many men, in the face of death or danger, call upon the Lord, and find deliverance. Often though they, soon forget the fear and the desperation they once knew, and revert back to their "old selves" when the situation is resolved. Many "fox-hole professions" have wound up being idle words, spoken out of a fearful heart. The desperation does not make dedication, but God will often honor the cry of the desolate. He did it with Israel many times! They cried out of bondage and rigorous servitude, and God sent a deliverer! Oh why can't we "remember the Lord" when things are going well too? 

Jonah ran from the Lord, but he knew how to get right and what to do about it, and God did honor his prayer. Jonah "cried" out of the belly of the whale.

When was the last time you cried unto the Lord, and wept bitterly for the soul of another? Or when did you last cry about a great need, one that was so desperate that you could do nothing but wail? This is the prayer that shakes Heavens foundation, and moves God to action on our behalf. Was there ever a time that you felt like Jonah must have felt in chapter two, when "the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God." Jonah decided that he would pay what he had vowed, and would sacrifice and be thankful unto the Lord.

I hope your commitment is not soon forgotten friend, lest you too end up in the bottom of the mountains, or in the belly of a whale!

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