Jonah 1:1-3 (ESV)
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD…

Jonah 1:17 (ESV)
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Sins of commission…when you do something you weren’t supposed to do.
Sins of omission…when you fail to do what God tells you to do.

Jonah 2:1-10 (ESV)
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.


So, what do you do when your life stinks?

The first thing Jonah does is pray!

1 Chronicles 16:11 (ESV)
11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Jeremiah 29:12 (ESV)
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

Mark 11:24 (ESV)
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Romans 12:12 (ESV)
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Out of my distress, out of the belly of Sheol, you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, the flood surrounded me, all your waves and your billows passed over me, I am driven away from your sight, the waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head, bars closed upon me, from the pit, my life was fainting away.

Jonah had an honest evaluation of where he was at that moment.

Jonah 2:8 (ESV)
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Jonah 2:8 (CEV)
8 All who worship worthless idols turn from the God who offers them mercy.

Jonah 2:9-10 (CEV)
9 But with shouts of praise, I will offer a sacrifice to you, my LORD. I will keep my promise, because you are the one with power to save.
10 The LORD commanded the fish to vomit up Jonah on the shore. And it did.