Amazing Grace

I diverted slightly from my usual format because I wanted to devote an entire post on last night's sermon. Brother Terry extended our study on Jonah, specifically Jonah 2:1-10.

Jonah's Prayer

1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 

In the first part of the chapter, you see that Jonah is praying to God in the worst possible place, but he is doing the right thing. He is using scripture when praying, stating what he did wrong, and he is asking forgiveness. Jonah was literally in the belly of the beast and because he told the Lord that he knew that He was the only way that he was going to be saved, salvation came. And when God saves you, he doesn't do it halfway. When he saved Jonah, he didn't command the fish to just spit him out, but onto dry land.

The song Amazing Grace really sums it up for me, 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

When Brother Terry asked us to take a moment and dig deep to think of what we all REAAAALLLLY wanted from God, the only thing I could think of right then was for God to give the additional motivation, strength, light, whatever they needed for the lost to find their way to Him. I can make it with what I have if it meant that my one prayer brought someone to the Lord. I want everyone to know how much my salvation means to me. I always thought that unless you were serious about your walk with God, then you were a hypocrite. I didn't want to be a hypocrite so I didn't bother going to church. I prayed occasionally, but usually when I was in a bind. I had been saved when I was 9, so all my teen years and adult life was a series of back-slides and sinking deeper. There isn't a sin that wasn't a friend of mine, it seemed. That is only a slight exaggeration, but sin is sin...regardless if I murdered a cat or coveted my neighbor's weed eater. My sins were my own, though and kept me from my Father. It was when really listened to the words of this song that I was brought to tears. I know He loved me so much he gave His only Son to die so I would not have to suffer for my sins. That fact is heart melting. But to know this love is unconditional, that I have only to ask for forgiveness and He forgives me no matter how wrongly I was living. I was in the belly of the beast, but because I prayed to my Lord to please deliver me from the evil I was drowning in, He saved a wretch like me. If He can love me, I promise He can love anyone!!!

Every day, I try to walk closer to the Lord. I will fail every day, but I will ask for forgiveness when I do. I will try the next day to do it better than the day before. I cannot be anything but a sinner, but each day I will try to make my Father proud and that is all anyone can do.