God's Messenger - Lesson Two

​November Week 2, 2022 Learning Together
     Hello! Hello and welcome to Learning Together’s November Week 2 lesson. Today we continue talking about the story of Jonah in “God’s Messenger” on pages 160-169 in The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Weber.
     Children: You may wish to again listen to the oral reader reading this month’s story. Maybe you will want to reread the story out of the book or take turns reading it with someone in your family. Remember that Pastor Mary would love to hear your comments, thoughts, and reactions to this lesson. Please feel free to comment!
     Picking up where we left off, the big question for Jonah at this point in his life is how much convincing will it take for him to do what God has asked? Sometimes when people do not want to do something they know they should, something happens that helps them to change their minds. What do your parents say or do when you decide not to clean your room? Well, God decided to help Jonah change his mind by creating a bad storm. And sending the big fish. And letting Jonah sit in the big fish for 3 days. I believe that would convince anyone.
     Can you imagine what Jonah did while spending 72 hours in the total darkness and in total stinkiness of a fish’s stomach? What do you think you would do? Any picture you could draw of this scene would be amazing!
     Adults: The Biblical reference for this story is the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament.
     Nearly one-fourth of this Book is a prayer Jonah voiced from inside the fish. Jonah cried out from the depths of his despair, and he did so by rejoicing that God heard his prayer. “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. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me” (2:2-3).
     We need to give Jonah credit for praying, but too many of us pray only when we find ourselves in trouble like the runaway prophet.
      Jonah knew God’s word well enough to fill his prayer with words from Scripture. From memory, he recites phrases from Psalm 18:6, 31:22, and 42:7, demonstrating the power of holding God’s word deeply in our hearts so that we can retrieve it at the right time (Psalm 119:11).
 
~This week’s prayer: Dear Lord, I want to hold your words in my heart. Amen
 
Have a safe and happy week!
Margo