Sunday, March 26th
Prayers of Thankfulness Jonah 2:1-9
By Pastor Luke Maggard
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” V. 2
If you know the story of Jonah it might seem strange to use his prayer here for one on thankfulness. Jonah made a conscious decision to not listen to what God was telling Him to do, and instead tried to run in the opposite direction of God. He fled by boat, but God brought a horrible storm. The only way that the boat and everyone else on it would survive was by Jonah being thrown overboard.
That is exactly what happened and the waters calmed down completely. Jonah’s mistake to not listen to God had caught up with him, but God wasn’t done with him yet.
This prayer from Jonah 2 comes after a fish had swallowed Jonah so he could stay alive, and eventually do the very thing that God had called him to originally. Jonah is thankful that God remembered him despite his disobedience.
As we are four and half weeks into Lent maybe you have fallen off track of what you felt God had asked you to do or give up during this season. First, know that you are not alone in that. Secondly, know that if you are willing to approach God with thankfulness for who He is, like Jonah did, you will be forgiven and can start again. As we have talked about previously, we serve a God who freely forgives us of our sins.
I am also reminded by this prayer that if we feel like our life is falling apart, by our own doing or for some other reason, we need to turn to God instead of the things of this world. Jonah says this in verses 7-9, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
Let us be a people who with thankfulness cling to God’s love for us and shout His praises.
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Monday, March 27th
He Is Deserving Of Praise
By Iona Sewell
Jonah 2:1-9
Jonah’s prayer of thanks from inside a fish’s belly doesn’t make sense at all…unless our understanding comes from reading I Thessalonians 5:18, “Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
According to this verse, we who belong to Christ are to be thankful no matter how desperate our situation might be or how bad things appear at any given moment. Being inside that fish for three days and nights gave Jonah lots of time to think about why he was there…his disobedience in running away from God’s calling to go to Nineveh and warn them of God’s destruction unless they repented.
At that point, Jonah thought he was dying (vs. 7) and had no idea whether he would be rescued or not when he prayed this prayer of thanksgiving. Jonah’s calmness in the face of certain death seems unbelievable, but this is what we as Christians are challenged to do—“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
And, that is what Jonah did! He thanked God for sparing him and showing him mercy even though he didn’t deserve it.
“Oh, God…how can I pray this genuinely, even in the midst of desperate situations? I ask that You give me a grateful heart and eyes to see all You’ve done for me…even when life seems to go sideways. I know that only You are worthy of praise at all times!”
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Tuesday, March 28th
Saved from the Sea
Andy Osman
My first thought of what took place before this passage tells me that if the Lord asks you to do anything for him, you had better not try to escape the task.
Secondly, Jonah was staring at imminent death and being isolated from God. He was also given three days of life in the belly of the fish to reflect on the error of his ways. As his life was ebbing away, Jonah prayed to the Lord with a song of thanksgiving declaring he will sacrifice to the Lord, praying that “salvation comes from the Lord.” The Lord, knowing Jonah’s heart to be honest, commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.
I have caught and cleaned thousands of fish during the last 50 years. I have many times witnessed a fish fighting being landed and vomit the contents of their stomach. Not all fish do this and I will usually open up the stomachs to see what they’re feeding on. Over the years I have come to the conclusion if the stomach is empty they committed during the fight. Therefore, I believe God’s command to the fish was a miracle. Jonah should be thankful for this salvation.
Warning! Do not misunderstand that Jonah being saved from the belly of the fish had anything to do with some kind of bargain Jonah made with God. Sailors on a sinking ship in a terrible storm have prayed to be saved from their doom, and promised that if saved, these sailors would build a church or shrine to God. God can not be manipulated in such a manner.
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Wednesday, March 29th
In prayer today I want to encourage you to take a few moments to grab a piece of paper and write out the things that you are thankful to God for. Sometimes we can forget all that God has blessed us with, and this simple practice of writing out what we are thankful for for a few minutes can make a huge difference. Then take a moment and pray over that list, thanking God for HIs many blessings.
Thank you Lord for all you have given us. Let us be reminded of your many blessings and praise you for them.
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Thursday, March 30th
Be Thankful
By Curt Binnion
Jonah:
The knucklehead
The Disrupter
The disobedient “MY WAY” guy
The Prophet chosen by God for an incredible work.
I call it a prayer of wisdom.
Jonah realized all his errors. That he had jeopardized others lives, others commerce and caused huge losses.
Now he is in a tuff spot but remembers the Lord chose him for this great mission. Because of that he knows the Lord will not forget him.
So he says what is on his heart. (Now from the belly of a large fish, after 3 days). This is his 911 prayer if you will.
He acknowledges the greatness of the Lord in all ways. Then he commits to the Lord with a vow to make good. Understanding salvation comes from the Lord.
Be thankful in all times in all ways. Sometimes we are “stiff necked” in our ways. Not the first and won’t be the last.
God has a very good sense of humor here.
He has the fish spit him out. Like Jonah gave the fish a bad taste.
Remember too, Jonah was headed in the wrong direction when he was tossed overboard.
So is the Lord saying let me help you keep your promise? Or is he simply making a way for his will to be accomplished?
This is on my list of questions when I get to heaven.
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Friday, March 31st
“Prayers of Thankfulness”
By Pastor Barb Tuttle
Jonah’s Prayer
2 He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. 7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.
God is always with us, even when we may walk away from Him. If we look back, we will see He is there – arms outstretched, welcoming us back. That is a lot to be thankful for!
I was diving down 65S one evening returning home from class in Indy. There had been construction, so the road had no lines, just fresh dark asphalt. I was following a semi, and a semi was following me. I saw blue and red lights flashing ahead and took my eyes off the truck in front of me just long enough to try and figure out what was happening, seconds. When I looked back to the truck – it had almost completely stopped. I was going 70mph.
I felt a peace come over me that I had never experienced before. It felt like things were moving in slow motion and I said out loud – very calm, soft, and peacefully – “Well Lord, this is it I am not going to make it – I won’t get stopped in time.” I was able to come to a stop – I don’t think you could have fit a slice of bologna between me and the semi in front of me – but then I looked in the rearview mirror. While I had stopped just in time, the semi behind me had locked up his brakes trying to stop before he hit me. Again, I don’t think you could have fit a slice of bologna between me and the semi behind me!
God had intervened – I was very thankful. I sang praises to the Lord, and shed tears of joy and thankfulness all the way home. To experience God’s peace and presence at a time when everything was totally out of control, is indescribable and something I am most thankful for.
Dear Lord, thank you for always being with me. Thank you for helping me when I call out to you, and it seems there is no way out. Thank you, Lord, for your peace that truly transcends all understanding. Amen
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Saturday, April 1st
Prayer of Repentance
Every Saturday we will have a prayer that we can pray ourselves to focus on repenting of our sins, and receiving forgiveness for them. It will be the same prayer each week. It is a prayer by John Wesely, the father of the Methodist movement, that is called Forgive Our Sins. We would encourage you to take a few moments and pray this prayer and confess your sins to God. He will hear you, and will forgive you.
Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
…..and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
…..and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
….and the sins by which we have made others offend;
forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake, who died for our sins and rose for our justification,.and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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