Most people are familiar with this story. God had commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, the NYC of its day and proclaim that Judgement was coming and coming soon. 

Jonah did not want to do that because he knew that, if they repented, God would not destroy the city (the Bible does not say “HOW” Jonah knew this, but it was evident he did). IF that happened, it wasn’t just that Jonah would have sparked repentance in the city of Nineveh, Nineveh was HATED by the Jews. They were like Iran is today to Christians. OK?

He would rather see God destroy the entire land and its people for all that they had to Israel. He did not want to even give them a shred of a chance at repentance. So – he went in the complete opposite direction! Amen!

Ultimately, Jonah was tossed over-board from the ship he was on, once it was determined it was his fault for the ship being in jeopardy. Jonah was ok with that, too! You can tell from the conversation in scriptures. 

He basically had the attitude that, “I’ll be dead and ushered into paradise…and Nineveh and all of it’s inhabitants will still not have a chance to repent and God will still destroy that wicked place! That’s good all the way around!”

But – God had a plan. And sent a fish to swallow up Jonah as soon as he was tossed in the sea. Now, we do not know what kind of fish it was…but you can pretty much determine it was a whale. Why?

One, it was large enough to swallow him whole. 

Two, a whale just inhales water and brings the krill into its mouth in one might rush of water and then, down into the stomach the food goes…

But, in this instance, Jonah was detoured. He probably was not sucked into the stomach, or else the acids would have started in on him. Instead, he became, let’s say, stuck in the esophagus of the whale. Why do I say that?

Because the whale must surface to take a breath of air, right? So, Jonah had to have a fresh air supply. The esophagus, just like ours, splits off to the stomach and to the lungs. And there was Jonah, stuck in the throat of the whale.

God then directed the whale to start swimming towards the destination He wanted Jonah to go. After three days of being stuck in the dark, fighting to stay in place as the whale kept swallowing more and more krill, then catching some fresh air as it surfaced, only to dive down again…Jonah had enough.

He prayed…

Well, about that time, the whale was back on the beach near where God wanted Jonah to be in the first place. The whale, now delirious because he could not get whatever it was stuck in his throat out – suddenly vomited and spit out Jonah…right on or near the beach.

And Jonah decided it might be in his best interest just to go ahead and do what God told him to do in the first place. And you can tell from the rest of the story, he did not like it. But you have to give him credit, at least he obeyed.

The question I have for you is this…

What has God told YOU to do that you have not done yet?  It doesn’t have to be anything BIG like go to a foreign land and become a missionary…it could be – but it doesn’t have to be…

It could be something simple, like giving extra money in offerings. Or witnessing to your coworker. Or just taking the kids to church.  But, whatever it is, if you have not done it yet, what is it going to take?

Do you only pray to God when you are in trouble? I know a lot of people like that. When all hell breaks loose around them, then they call…”Can you pray for me?”

Folks, do not be like Jonah. Pray every single day. That is what this teaching series is all about – to bring you into a closer, deeper relationship with God through prayer. Amen!

I want to pray for you right now to have that type of closer relationship with your Heavenly Father… Let’s pray…

Do me a favor…can you leave a comment down below and I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a rating and review over on iTunes. All of this helps us to grow and to “Get the Word Out” into all the earth.

Be sure to visit our website at PodcastersForChrist.com and download our free resource, “Podcasting For Christians.” It is free and it will bless you immensely if you have or are thinking of starting a podcast of your own.

Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do!

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You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2