I don’t know about you, but when life is going well, my prayer life often slips because there’s no tragedy or difficult circumstance forcing me to rely on my Father. On the other hand, prayer has always been the easiest when times are the hardest because that’s when I realize just how acutely I need the Lord. Jonah found himself in the hardest of hard times—he was trapped in the belly of a fish. Certainly, it was time to pray!

Verses 4–6 record the first part of Jonah’s prayer. Here he models how to cry out to the Lord at our darkest moments—even if our own decisions caused the calamity. The most encouraging part of this prayer is Jonah’s opening, where he declares that the Lord heard his cries: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (v. 2). What a joy that God heard Jonah’s cry and responded to him. And what joy that God hears our cries even “from deep in the realm of the dead” (v. 2)! In this sudden reversal, Jonah must have been relieved that he could not hide from God!

In verse 3 Jonah acknowledges God’s power and sovereignty—it was God who “hurled [Jonah] into the depths.” And in verse 4 Jonah expresses his trust that he would be rescued from the fish’s belly: “I will look again toward your holy temple.” Despite the gravity of Jonah’s situation, and even though he alone caused it, he knew the Lord would deliver him. In verse 6 he declares that “you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit.”