We are going to venture into the life of Jonah for this week’s prayer devotional. Many of us hear the name Jonah and automatically certain words come to mind. Whale is probably the first, Nineveh might be the second. Thunderstorms that come during life’s interruptions and turning your cheek in the opposite direction God has called you to go.
These are all very interesting, but I am going to go a different route with Jonah’s story (no pun intended). In this very short book among the minor prophets of the bible, God doesn’t give us the prophesies spoken like the other 11 books, nestled together at the end of the Old Testament. He gives us a glimpse into the life of a prophet that has had one of the biggest interruptions imaginable. Quite an experience, from which each of us can learn.
I encourage you to read more about Jonah on your own. But for this particular devotion, we are going to look at the very first verse of Jonah, chapter 1, as it reads: “The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai.” The Greek translation of “word” when it is used in a sentence in its lowercase form is “instruction.” God was giving Jonah instructions. One word that is capable of producing a multitude of different outcomes.
Have you ever bought something that you had to put together yourself? A list of instructions was somewhere in the box… but who needs instructions? We can figure it out on our own, right? I remember a book case we bought from Ikea several years ago – simple, 4 sides, 5 shelves. But because we didn’t start properly, we quickly found out that several of the shelves had to be in place before the 4 sides were put together. It took us 40 minutes to do a 20 minute project! All because we didn’t follow the instructions. Inevitably, we had to go back to step 1 and start all over again.
Throughout this mission, there will be many instructions given to each one of us. God will point us in all sorts of directions and we will need to be ready and willing to listen. Let not disobey our instructions like Jonah and find ourselves being swallowed by grace because of our own destructive behaviors. Let us listen carefully so that the “word” of the LORD is fulfilled while in training and on the mission field. Let us pray:
God, we come to you ready for our instructions. We know that you fill the hearts of every individual on this team. And we know that each of us will strive to do our best to make this mission successful by carefully listening to those who are led by You to instruct. We specifically pray for each of them now:
Karen – team leader and hut-to-hut discipleship facilitator
Ryan – campsite administrator and Jako’s right hand
Candi – Amber’s right hand
Kerry and Bill – worksite leaders in the fields and at the school
Katie – eye ministry leader
God, we lift up Amber, Jako and Jakob to you now as well. As a team, and leaders within the team, each of us will receive our direct instructions from them – our host missionaries. May we prayerfully and faithfully carry out the duties that they have each of us fill within the scope of this mission. We want to be a blessing and not a burden, doing what is told of us without complaint. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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