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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer for the Day

Holy God, you have given me another day. Bring your Holy Spirit into my mind and my life, so that I may walk this day in your presence. Let me feel your presence throughout the day, remembering always that you sent your Spirit that you might be a living force in all I see and all I do. When I feel temptation or begin to stray, show me your path. Correct me, comfort me, let me live your will; that I may be happy in this life and blessed in the life to come. This I pray in the name of Christ, my Lord.

Prayer for Grace and Strength

Lord God, I pray that you will fill my heart with the blessing of your Holy Spirit. Grant me this day the strength to be temperate in all things, diligent in my duties, and patient under my afflictions. Direct me in all my ways. Give me grace to be just and upright in all my dealings; quiet and peaceable; full of compassion; and ready to do good to all people, according to my abilities and opportunities. For the sake of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Affirmation

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip us with every good thing that we may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight; through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.

~ Hebrews 13:20-21

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Untutored Alabama artist Annie Lucas was inspired to begin painting when she experienced a vision of “Jonah and the Whale” on the walls of her home.

Psalm 89:5-6 (NKJV)

Jonah 1:17 (ESV)

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Notes on the Scripture

nd so, the great moment for which Jonah is so well known. Jonah’s not going anywhere! When he tries to get on a ship to avoid the mission that God has set out for him, God has him thrown off the ship and then provides His own form of transportation back to where he wants Jonah to be.

The literal translation of the animal that swallows Jonah is a “great fish”, but the incident is commonly called “Jonah and the whale”, and for good reason. Whales were thought to be gigantic fish until a long time later, when marine biology became much more sophisticated and was able to classify whales as mammals. In modern taxonomic terms, we would not confuse fish and whales, but it seems silly to make a fuss over the matter about a story that occurred 3000 years ago.

There was a modern account of a man swallowed by a whale. In 1891, it was reported that one James Bartley, a seaman about the whaler Star of the East, was lost at sea when his boat was capsized by the tail of a sperm whale. When the animal was killed and its stomach cut open, some time later, Bartley was found alive inside of it.

But it would be a mistake to consider Jonah’s fate a natural phenomenon at all. The very nature of God’s communication with mankind is the action of an incomprehensible being, made manifest on earth in a way that can be grasped by a human mind. Perhaps God literally created a great fishlike creature who swallowed Jonah, or perhaps this is simply the only way in which the people of the time could grasp or explain what had occurred.

It is entirely possible that Jonah could have been swallowed by a whale and lived in its belly for three days, for God has the power to make this happen. Or it is possible that something else actually happened, and this is the explanation given us to understand. The point is, the narrative is given to us for a purpose. If we have to suspend our disbelief in order to understand a message from God, and to grasp the meaning of the Book of Jonah, we should simply be thankful for such a colorful and memorable account of Jonah’s ordeal.

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