Ministering: Pastor Shola Awobajo.
Text: Jonah 2:1-10.
“ 1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”
From our above Text, Jonah found himself in the Fish’s belly due to his disobedience to a Divine Instruction. Chapter 2 is what happened while he was in the Belly of the Whale. Many are presently in the belly of the whale in this Pandemic due to their disobedience. My counsel is to do what Jonah did, “But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving.” When he repented and chose to praise God, his trouble ceased immediately.
You might be in the belly of the whale, you should still praise Him that you can still breathe for a living dog is better than a dead lion. Psalm 150 says “Let everything that has breath praise The Lord.” When Jonah decided to Praise God, his condition changed; likewise, until we choose to bow down in adoration and praise of The Lord, our condition remains unchanged. Some are too big to praise Him, hence they end like Nebuchadnezzar who has confined to the jungle-like an animal for 7 years until he repented, acknowledged, and Blessed The Most High. May we humble ourselves before Him lest Heaven allows situations to happen that humble us.
Romans 1:21-22 says “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Praising Him always puts you at your optimum, always at your best.
When you praise Him, the earth will keep yielding its increase to you. Psalm 67:5. When you praise Him, things will keep coming to you naturally, Goodness and Mercy will always be following you. Psalm 23. From Isaiah 38:18, as you live a life of continual praise, your life will continue to be preserved and elongated. As you praise Him, you are buying time on the surface of the Earth. 1 Chron. 29:27 also shows us the blessed life of a Praise Addict – David died in a good old age full of days.
Psalm 97:5 also tells us another great benefit of Praise – Mountains melt like wax at The Presence of The Lord. He is The Resurrection and The Life, so regardless of any unpleasant dead situation, He will raise it back to life. He gave thanks in the midst of what looks like a lack (2 Fish and 5 loaves of Bread) and praise brought abundance and multiplication.
You never go wrong when you choosing to go the route of PRAISE!
God Bless You!
Leave a Reply