The Prophet Jonah (8)

We have seen the ship sailing onward, away from Jonah. The sea became very calm as Jonah went overboard. That is where we left him, going deeper and deeper towards the bottom of the sea. There was no great fish lying right near the surface for him. No, Jonah went to the bottom of the sea, where the “weeds were wrapped about my head.” As he came into the depths of the sea, he saw a great fish coming towards him. Jonah must have thought that this was the end of him. “This will be eternity, and I will have to stand before God.” When he saw that fish coming towards him with its mouth open, he thought that he would surely perish. It became night for Jonah when the fish swallowed him, but Jonah did not know that there were Everlasting Arms underneath the fish.

He could not see those Arms. He did not know that he could not sink any deeper than God deemed necessary for him. We also do not see those Arms lying underneath. When we are sinking down because of circumstances in our lives, maybe from a disease in the body, then we do not know how far we have to go. We fear that we will sink so far down that we will arrive at that place where hope never comes. How fearful it becomes! “Oh, will I be forever lost?”

Jonah did not know that the Lord had prepared this fish for him. He did not realize that this was to be his prayer chamber, the place where he would experience that which Asaph did in Psalm 73:23-24: “Nevertheless I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” Jonah was not that far yet. No, he could not see that this was God's way. He could not see that this fish's belly was going to be his prayer chamber where he might cry by reason of his affliction.

Do you have a prayer chamber? Is there a prayer chamber in your home? Is there a prayer chamber in your place of business, or on your farm? Do you know a place where you may cry by reason of your afflictions, afflictions which the Lord has put upon you to force, as it were, your heart open before Him? May you have such a place where you may cry unto the Lord. Yes, the Lord will bring His people there. He will let them sink as He deems necessary. He will let them sink deep into the knowledge of being lost, deep into the knowledge of having no God for their soul, deep into the knowledge of having no Jesus for their guilt.

That must have been something for Jonah — sinking to the bottom of the sea. There the Lord, reverently speaking, was waiting for him. He was waiting for him and would say to him, “Jonah, here is a prayer chamber for you. In this place I will break your heart once more. In this place I will once again give you the deepest humility and the deepest bowing before God.” Such a prayer chamber was not an easy place for Jonah. Oh, the fish's belly was such a narrow place for Jonah.

However, in that narrow compartment this child of God began to pray. There at the bottom of the sea he may look unto the Lord, because there he may experience that underneath are the Everlasting Arms. Daniel knew of such a place when he was in the lions' den. He also experienced that underneath the trial were the Everlasting Arms. The murderer on the cross also knew something of those Arms as he hung next to the Lord Jesus: “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Prayer is called the breath of the soul in the life of God's people. Here Jonah prayed again. There had been a long time in his life without prayer, but here he might pray again. That is a wonderful time, when we may pray again. Maybe you have to say, “Oh, it has been so long ago. I cannot deny everything, but it has become so dark in my life and so cold in my heart. It seems as if nothing warms my heart anymore. I cannot cry unto the Lord anymore as in former times.” Oh, may you see that there comes a time in the life of God's children that they cry again unto Him. When the Lord brings His people into times of affliction, then sometimes their hearts open and cry again unto Him.

“Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.” There he spread his empty hands unto the Lord. There he might say, “I lift my soul unto Thee. O Lord, is there yet a return ticket for me?” Jonah, as we know, was traveling with only one ticket. But, since he was a child of God, Jesus Christ had obtained another ticket for him. Now Jesus Christ would bring him back unto Himself. But to make him willing to accept such a return ticket by free and sovereign grace, the Lord let him sink deeper and deeper. By nature we don't want such a return ticket. What a wonder that Jonah had a return ticket! That was why the Lord stopped him. That was why the Lord gave him a prayer chamber at the bottom of the ocean. Oh, what a blessed people they are who have such a prayer chamber and return ticket!

How was it possible that Jonah prayed “out of the fish's belly”? It was because there is One at the right hand of the Father. He says in John 17:9, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.” He prays that the Everlasting Arms would uphold His people forever and forever. He prays for them as they are sinking deep into the ocean. He prays that their hearts may be broken before the Lord. He prayed for the runner Jonah, who was running away from the Lord. It is a wonder that Jesus prays for runners. He prayed for Jonah even though he was sleeping in the storm. But the Lord stopped him and gave him a prayer chamber. Are you sleeping in the storm? It will be an eternal wonder if the Lord awakens you as He did Jonah.

Jonah prayed out of the fish's belly. You might be thinking, “How is it possible?” Oh, that is free and sovereign grace. Why? It is because this God knew him. This God called him. He also longed for His child. He loved him freely, and that is why Jonah might have a prayer chamber in which to pour out his heart. That is why he cried by reason of his affliction.

Do you have a prayer chamber? You may have a lot of things in this world, but will they profit your soul for that never-ending eternity? Maybe you are still young, and you put the day of your death far off. Well, we know that young people also die. That is why I ask young and old, “Do you have a prayer chamber?”

— to be continued —

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