DCLM Daily Manna Saturday 15 April 2023
TOPIC: Desperate Prayers
TEXT: Jonah 2:1-10 (KJV)
2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 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.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
KEY VERSE
“Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly.”
(Jonah 2:1)
DCLM Daily Manna Saturday 15 April 2023 MESSAGE
Ivan Denisovich, a prisoner, endured all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day, he was praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner noticed him and said with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster”. Opening his eyes, Ivan answered, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God”.
Jonah, a reluctant prophet gave clear and revealing insights into what transpired between him and the Almighty God while he sojourned in the belly of the fish. After refusing God’s assignment to preach to the Ninevites, he was cast into the sea by the crew of the ship he boarded to Tarshish, where he was eventually swallowed by a fish. While in the bottom of the sea, he said, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice” (Jonah 2:2). Apparently ending the standoff, Jonah, now under pains, surrendered, and desperately asked to do God’s will. Miraculously, he was vomited by the fish to commence his journey to Nineveh.
Prophet Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale has many lessons for believers. No matter how serious your condition is, you can still pray and receive deliverance from God. There is no place too hidden, or any situation too hopeless for God to reach you.
Some people contemplate alcoholism, drug addiction or suicide when things go wrong and trouble looms. The experiences of Jonah, Job, Jacob and other pilgrims in Bible day should encourage us to trust in God – the Source of true help. Life is full of challenging situations and circumstances that make people despair, but like Jonah, we should resolve to look towards God and pray. Definitely, He will show up.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Prayer remains the only option when all else fails.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 15-17
