(Jonah 1:1-17; 2:1, 10,
Lk 10:25-3)
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” The
story of Jonah is quite dramatic. Hearing this, the young man planned an escape
from the presence of God to Tarshish. Where
can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? (Ps
139:7-10). Jonah abandoned the journey God arranged for him and embarked on his
own self-thought-out journey. He felt comfortable. He relaxed at the inner
chamber of the ship and slept off. Then trouble ensued: the ship was about
sinking! His journey was interrupted.
2.0. Arise and Pray
The sailors in the ship started calling on
their different gods. Their prayers were not answered since the gods of the
Nations are works of human hands...(Ps 135:15-16). Funny enough, the man of
God was asleep. At that time when Jonah felt comfortable, when he thought he
had escaped and was secure, he could not pray but slept off. But trouble woke
him: “Arise, call upon your god...”
At the end Jonah was cast into
the sea. A great fish swallowed him up. “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God
from the belly of the fish.” Oh Yes! Now he did not need anyone to invite him
to pray. The sleep of prayer
vanished. Trouble had woken up his prayer life.
3.0. In the Footsteps of Jonah
The footsteps of Jonah are all
around and within us. How many realize the urgency of prayer when they are
secure? We all walk in that footstep once in a while. On the other hand, escape
from prayer is a tacit attempt to run from the Spirit of the Lord. Prayer becomes
elusive at that moment when we want to hide ourselves or an aspect of our life
from God.
Like Jonah, God hears us every
time, even when we call on Him from the dungeon of our wretchedness. As he
prayed, the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land. It can
never be too late to pray. “Pray constantly” (1 Thes 5:17). We cannot be
sleeping under the ship of comfort when we ought to be praying. Prayer is our
security.
Fr
Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Mater
Domini Novitiate House
Enugu,
Nigeria.
09/10/17
