PRAYER IN THE STORM
When I was about 8 years old, I watched the film Jaws!
For those of you that haven’t seen it, Jaws is a film about a seaside resort named Amity that is terrorised by a great white shark. Police Chief Martin Brody orders the beaches to be closed, but the corrupt mayor and local businessmen insist they stay open – with tragic results. Brody then takes to the waters with professional shark hunter, Quint, and shark expert, Matt Hooper, to hunt down the shark and save the town.
This film terrified me! I remember dreaming that Jaws was coming through my bedroom floor! I would check the toilet, just in case Jaws was lurking at the bottom. I would not go in the sea, lake, river, fish pond, even a puddle – in fact, anything with water in it – because you just never knew where Jaws could be lurking!
In the Old Testament we read the story of Jonah. He boarded a ship heading for Tarshish because he was trying to go in the opposite direction to where God wanted him to go. A large storm came and, in the end, Jonah told the sailors to throw him overboard in order for the storm to stop. It’s at this moment we see God do an amazing life-saving mission – a large fish comes along, swallows Jonah whole and he stays in the belly of the fish for three days!
Can you imagine what it was like for Jonah, at that moment, stuck inside the belly of a fish? It would have been dark, with no light switch or candle, and it would have been so smelly. I bet this fish would have been swallowing all sorts before Jonah came along. It would have been quite wet too, with slushing gastric juices and lots of other disgusting things…
But what did Jonah do? He prayed! In the middle of the toughest, darkest unknown circumstances, he prayed – and not only that, he prayed a prayer of faith.
Jonah acknowledges where he was and then totally believed that God would answer him: “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!” (Jonah 1: 1-2)
At the moment, there is a world-wide pandemic that put the whole country in lockdown. Being really honest, I am finding it hard that my eldest son is still in London, that I have family members who aren’t near to me, that my job isn’t guaranteed, that I have nearly ran out of toilet rolls (winky face!). I need to remember to take it to God first – to renew my mind, to check what I am speaking to my circumstances and to be still in His presence.
It’s the same for us today – whatever we’ve done, wherever we’ve been, whatever we are going through – the good, the bad and the ugly – God hears, God listens and God answers.
If I’m being honest, and maybe if you are too, prayer is not always the first thing I go to. Sometimes I can feel like I’m on Who wants to be a Millionaire: shall I phone a friend? Is it 50/50? Shall I ask the audience?
Maybe we find ourselves in circumstances today that we didn’t foresee when we celebrated the New Year in 2020. But we trust in a God who did know! Our hope is in a God who holds the future in His hands. God knew that Jonah would be spat out the belly of the fish three days later – even though Jonah didn’t know that was going to happen until it happened! But he still prayed, and he spoke to his circumstances with faith.
What are you praying for that is specific? What are you praying for, in faith, that only God can do? What is it, that when you get an answer, you know it is only from God? God can handle big prayers!
Jonah’s prayer ends with this: “But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfil all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”
During this challenging time, let’s continue to pray. Let’s worship the One who is worthy of our praise. Let’s speak words of faith to our circumstances and let’s remember where our salvation comes from!
