A Prayer From The Deep Series

He prayed this prayer before he had been rescued. He didn’t know how it would turn out but he knew God would hear his prayer, even from the bottom of the ocean from inside a fish.

Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to see how much help we need.

I watched an interview with Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. He was an alcoholic. They asked him what was his “rock bottom.” He said it was a stewardess saying, “Welcome to London, Mr. Walsh.” He asked her, “What am I doing in London?”

He didn’t remember getting on the plane or even buying the ticket. He know that something drastic had to happen or he was going to die.

I knew a man who was a well-loved principal of a school, married for many years to a wonderful woman, and was known in the community.

But he was deep in sexual sin - porn and multiple adulteries with teachers and parents in his school. It all came crashing down on him when several of these women went to the school board.

He was fired from his job. His wife was threatening to leave him. His reputation was ruined.

This drove him to his knees and for the first time in a long time, he cried out to God with tears of humility and repentance. He committed his life to Christ and decided not to live in regret but move forward.

He got into treatment and five years later, he was leading a group ministering to men in sexual sin. He was very thankful for the second chance he had been given - by his wife and family but most importantly from His God.

God is willing to rescue you, even if you are calling out from the bottom of the sea. All you have to do is admit that you cannot help yourself, He’ll do the rest.

Jonah’s Commitment

“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.’” (Jonah 2:8-9)

So far, we’ve heard Jonah cry out to God in desperation, give us a vivid description of his circumstances, and now we will hear his commitment to the Lord.

Verses 8 is in the very middle of the book of Jonah.

Jonah is writing for the audience that will read this later- Hebrews. At that time, Israel economy was booming but they were spiritually bankrupt - filled with greed, pride, injustice, and idolatry.

Jeremiah wrote this about Israel’s idolatry:

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

The Jewish people were prone to worship other gods and so are we. Tim Keller says that asking a simple question can uncover idols in our lives:

What is it in your life that you simply could not live without?

The Hebrew literally reads, “the forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” The word is “hesed.” It means unmerited favor bestowed by a unobligated giver. And it is only used of God’s covenant love toward Israel.

When I went to Philadelphia with my brother, we had planned to tour Independence Hall but we got there too late to get tickets. They did have tours after hours but it wasn’t with a tour guide.