Good morning everyone. Today I’m appealing to those of you who, like me have taken the path of Jonah at one time or another in your spiritual life. For those of you that don’t know the story, Jonah was one of God’s prophets whom he told “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah chose to go in another direction in order to escape doing what he was told. A number of things happened to Jonah as he was running away including being thrown overboard from the ship he took passage on and being swallowed by a big fish. The meal today is his appeal to God.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, the answers that we desire when we pray don’t hinge so much on Your faithfulness to us, as on our faithfulness to You, do they? Help us to see that “whatsoever I ask in Jesus’ name” means whatsoever we ask in accordance with Your will, for when Jesus was here in person, He said that He only did what the You directed. Help us to sincerely repent of any wrong-doing before we come to You with our needs. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
JONAH’S PRAYER
Jonah 2
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. He said, “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! You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.” Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
Someone reading this message right now may be in a Jonah type experience and in need to repent for not following an exact command that God gave to you personally. Turn around and receive the mercy and grace that God provides to all that listen and obey. Don’t end up like Jonah.
Quote of the Day
Those who say they will forgive but can’t forget, simply bury the hatchet but leave the handle out for immediate use.
Dwight L Moody
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION & THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY