Just as a diary or journal can provide a “window into the soul” of its writer, so too prayers can reveal the heart of the pray-er. How we pray, when we pray, and what we pray for often showcases what we truly believe about God, ourselves, and life a pilgrims in a fallen world.
The second chapter of Jonah gives us an inspired eavesdropping session on the prayers of the prophet. And by listening we learn a lot about him as we find a hypocritical prayer marked by self-preservation, self-exoneration, and self-righteousness, characteristics that are especially disagreeable when contrasted with the character of the God to whom the prayers are being directed; a God who is generous, patient, and compassionate.
This prayer gives us a look into Jonah’s heart and invites you and I to examine our own.
Key Passage: Jonah 2
Speaker: Josiah Boyd
