Answers to Prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,

and he answered me;

out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

and you heard my voice.

Jonah 2:1-2 ESV

Do you have a “friend” that you dread getting a phone call from?

We might even choose to send their call straight to voicemail more times than not.

Most of us don’t mind helping people. But, we mind helping people who constantly put themselves in the bad situations they are in and never get any wiser.

Jonah, like all of us, was calling to God in his distress.

This was distress that he had caused himself! If he had just done what God had told him to do (Jonah 1:1-3), he would not be stuck in the belly of a large fish. Instead of ignoring Jonah’s cries, God heard his voice and answered him. Aren’t you glad that we can say as Jonah does that God will answer our prayers no matter how bad we have messed up?

It is noteworthy too, that God doesn’t send us straight to prayermail. No matter how bad we have messed up, we do not need to worry about God being too angry to answer our prayer.Is it always the answer we want?

No. But, it is the best answer we can ever receive.

It is an answer that brings us back to God after running from him as Jonah did. Be receptive to His response.

Thank God for His graciousness in answering our prayers?