“Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” (Jonah 2:1-2)
It is not unusual for a man to pray, but what IS unusual is WHERE Jonah is praying. He is praying “out of the fish’s belly.” Now, I have prayed in some strange places, but I have NEVER prayed from a fish’s belly…and hope I never do!
My first thought here is that God sometimes has to allow us to get into “stinky” situations in order to get our attention. Fish smell, so I have to think that a fish’s belly REALLY smells! But because Jonah was living in rebellion, running from God, God had to prepare a “stinky” circumstance to get his attention. And nothing will get a man’s attention like being swallowed by a fish!
The second thing I notice is that when Jonah prayed, he said, “thou heardest my voice.” There are no circumstances too bad but what God cannot hear you when you pray. Do you know how God was able to hear Jonah’s prayer, even from the bottom of a fish’s stinky belly? Because God was listening for his prayer!
God had not abandoned Jonah; God was preparing Jonah. And God has not abandoned you either. The circumstances you are facing may stink, but God may be using them to humble you and get your attention back on Him.
Jonah was in some stinky circumstances, but in the midst of those circumstances it says he “prayed unto the LORD.” Don’t let your circumstances silence your prayers. God is listening for you, call out to Him, today.