#DailyDevotion Jonah Teaches Us How To Pray
Jon. 2 8Those who worship idols that deceive them forsake Him Who is merciful to them. 9But I will sacrifice to You as I thank You aloud; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!”
Jonah concludes his prayer speaking of false gods, idols and comparing them to the LORD. He had recently, on the boat, been called upon to pray to his God by those who worship idols. We see how they turned to the LORD when the sea calmed after throwing Jonah overboard.
Our translation here says “forsake Him Who is merciful to them.” The literal translation of the Hebrew here would be something like “forsake the mercy.” The mercy is haChesed. Ha is the definite article the. Chesed is the LORD’s steadfast love, mercy, grace and the like. It seems Jonah is using it here, with the article, without reference to the LORD as a name of the LORD. It’s like 1 John four where he says, “God is love.” The LORD is Chesed and the two names are interchangeable. So when we turn to created things and human philosophy for every good and comfort, we are forsaking the One who is Chesed, we are forsaking mercy, grace, and steadfast love. We should always turn to our Father in heaven for every good thing, for all grace, mercy, kindness and steadfast love.
Jonah is confident he will be alive at the end of this turmoil. He has prayed to the LORD and he trusts the LORD has heard him and answered his prayer. So he can confidently say he will make sacrifices to the LORD and thank Him aloud. He will pay his vows. Would it be that our prayers would be so confident. Jesus calls us to pray such confident prayers. Jesus certainly has given us reason to pray this way. He says in Matt. 7, “7“Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8Anyone who asks receives; anyone who searches finds; and anyone who knocks, the door will be opened for him.” In Matt. 6:7 He says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” In Mark 11 Jesus says, “24That’s why I tell you, anything you ask for in prayer, believe that you received it, and you will have it.” In John 14 Jesus says, “13and I will do anything you ask in My name in order that the Son may glorify the Father. 14If you ask Me for anything in My name, I’ll do it.” And in John 16 he says, “23. . .I tell you the truth, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24So far you haven’t asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.” Who knew the book of Jonah was going to teach us about praying to our LORD and Father? But here he is teaching us about faith and prayer to our Chesed, our Love.
10The LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto the shore.
So at this point Jonah is vomited alive unto the shore at the command of the LORD. Now, you can have your pick of miracle. Did the LORD preserve Jonah alive in the fish or did He resurrect Jonah as he was being vomited? You don’t get to say Jonah didn’t exist or he wasn’t alive when he was vomited ashore. Given Jesus uses Jonah as a sign of His death and resurrection, I choose he was resurrected. If someone challenges you saying, “No one can survive living in a fish for three days,” You can simply reply, “Whether he lived or died in the fish, one this is for certain, he was alive when the fish spit him out on the beach.” Since you believe in the resurrection it shouldn’t be hard to swallow this.
Heavenly Father, increase our faith so we may pray like Jonah and give us the certainty of eternal life in the resurrection of You Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.