Yesterday our ecumenical Bible study took a look at the first chapter in the book of Jonah.

No one has to be in Sunday School very long to hear the story:  God gave Jonah, marching orders what Jonah was supposed to do. Jonah didn't want to do what he was asked, so he ran the opposite direction. Boarded a boat. A big storm came up. Sailors determined that Jonah was the problem and threw him overboard.  

That is where our story stopped yesterday. The next week or two we will be looking at the next four chapters:  Jonah prays from the fish; Jonah fulfills his mission; and God's mercy makes Jonah angry!

Sounds a bit like a soap opera, doesn't it?

Well, looking ahead for next week. Chapter two; the whole thing is Jonah praying from inside the fish. Is God going to spare his life or not?

Jonah 2:1 - 4 LAB:

"Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish:
"In my great trouble I cried to the Lord and he answered me; from the depths of death I called, and Lord, you heard me!  You threw me into the ocean depths; I sank down into the floods of waters and was covered by your wild and stormy waves.  Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have rejected me and cast me away. How shall I ever again see your holy Temple?’'"

Commentary on these verses:  "This is a prayer of thanksgiving, not a prayer of deliverance. Jonah was simply thankful that he had not been drowned. He was delivered in a most spectacular way and was overwhelmed that he had escaped certain death. Even from inside the fish, Jonah's prayer was heard by God. We can pray anywhere and at any time and God will hear us. Our sin is never too great, our predicament never too difficult for God."

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