Jonah's Prayer It was sure death for one Jewish man over 2,000 years ago.

Most people know the story of the prophet Jonah, but if you do not, take time to read the Holy Bible book named Jonah. It is only four chapters. You will see that he asked for the trouble he was in by disobeying God. Whether we ask for it or not, the Word of God warns us that the world will one day sink into a realm of spiritual darkness and a time of fear and terror (Luke 21:26). If you have surrendered your life to Christ and are in Him at that time, or in any dark time, with Christ within you can follow the precepts that are found in a portion of Jonahs prayer, specifically what he prayed in Jonah 2:8-9. Read his prayer now. "And (Jonah) 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. 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. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.'" (Jonah 2:2-9)

Those who regard worthless idols (Vanity) forsake their own mercy. An idol (or vain thing) does not necessarily have to be something like a statue or a picture, but can be anything that we place before God and or takes away any amount of the devotion we should give God. According to Strong Exhaustive Concordance, in this verse regard is in the form of a participle and means to keep, pay heed.

I would say paying heed could be taken in the sense of not only willingly paying attention to something in the place of God, but unwillingly, in the sense of fear and terror. For example, when Peter, at the bidding of Christ, began to walk on choppy waters he did well until he regarded the wind and the ways. So, when he took his eyes off of Christ he began to sink (Matthew 14:22-33). As the world spirals downward into a spiritual abyss there will be a lot of temptation to focus upon the negative and not upon God. I did that before coming to Christ. I can honestly say that now I have a peace that only Christ can give. I and others know how it is going to turn out. All of us must keep our eyes upon Christ. Anyone, including those who name the Name of Christ, who focuses upon anything, including terror and fear, in the place of God forsakes His mercy. I totally expect that those of us who trust in Him will be redeemed from this world by His mercy. With that, we should determine to do a number of things. II. Determine To (v. 9) A. Forsake self But I will sacrifice We must be willing to be so dedicated to Christ that we say no to the wants and wishes of our soul and body that will long after the things of the world as we near the end of the Gentile Age. We must remember what Christ said about self-preservation (Luke 17:33): Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Self-sacrificing does not earn us salvation, but it does spiritually strengthen us. B. Focus on God - to You. God through Christ must be the focus of our lives at all times, whether we are in good or bad times. C. Thank God With the voice of thanksgiving Despite how bad things get, there is always something to thank God for. While it is good to have a thankful heart, we should vocally express that thankfulness to Him. If you have surrendered your life to Christ, never forget to thank God for saving you! D. Work For God - I will pay what I have vowed. We all have something to do in God and for God through Christ. It bothers me when I hear and notice that some Christian ministers retire and while doing so diminish their ministerial activity or completely eliminate it. Some things we can always keep on doing is worshiping God, intercessory praying, teaching the precepts of the Word of God to others, and telling the lost about Christ.

E. Trust in God Salvation is of YHWH. The pronunciation of the Hebrew word here for salvation seems very close to me to that of the pronunciation of the name Joshua, Yeshua, which means salvation is of YHWH. The Greek word for Jesus (New Testament) denotes Joshua, Yeshua., which means Jehovah (Yaheweh) is salvation. Salvation from self, sin, hell and more is offered to everyone in the finished work of Christ Jesus. It is up to each person to decide to surrender to God through Christ. Once we do that, step by step we experience that we are to trust in God through Christ for salvation through trials. We are also to trust Him to complete His work of salvation in us so that one day we, with a new gloriously changed body, will be with Him for all eternity. If you have never surrendered to Christ, or if you have backslidden, commit to Him now. The world will keep going crazy, but you will not! Note: Biblical based salvation is as what follows. Remember that the trinity is a tradition ordained by men in 325 AD, and is not the truth of the word of God. As is the Sinner's Prayer, it begun under Baptists by Moody, then to Billy Sunday, Billy Graham and Bill Bright. Nowhere in the Old Testament (Circumcision) or the New Testament (Baptism) is whereby one enters into a covenant with Christ is by this unsaving prayer. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:36-38; 41-42)