Learning From and Praying with Jonah
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)
What do we learn from Jonah? First, who do we view as enemies? Certainly we don't have the same kinds of enemies. Jonah knew the Assyrians wicked reputation and would have grown up around many who likely hated and despised Nineveh and the rest of the Assyrians. Jonah clearly thought these Ninevite Assyrians deserved God's wrath. Who are those in our lives we think deserve God's wrath? Sometimes it's family or extended family? Other times it is a group or people who love their sin and hate God openly. But do we have a love for them and a desire to see them saved?
Second like Jonah how do we react when God prompts us to obey Him in our lives? when the Lord calls us to obey Him how do we obey Him? Do you obey God quickly or do you do so grudgingly? I have noticed degrees of obedience in my own life. Sometimes we may hesitate or rationalize or minimize the circumstances surrounding a situation that are before us and not obey right away. But when the Lord is clear in His Word how we should honor Him and presents an opportunity to obey Him and walk in truth.
How can the book of Jonah help us pray? In multiple ways. Here are a few: First we can pray for our enemies. And really all of those who are difficult for us to love. As we do we ought to remind our hearts that God’s mercy is infinite and no one is beyond the reach of His redeeming mercy. Praise God! Let us believe this and walk in light of it. Second we can pray to the Lord for ourselves. In particular we can pray for more of an obedient heart quick to glorify God. We can pray and ask God to strengthen us to obey Him no matter the cost and what inconvenience or discomfort it may bring or our hearts might be worried about if we do obey. And we can pray this same way for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
May Christ be praised in us! Amen!
