Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14

Today we are going to talk about the fourth lesson in the story of a prophet going down. Jonah not only refuses to share his faith, cultivate intimacy with God in his presence, care deeply for the welfare of others, but today we see him edging God out of his prayer life. The bible tells us that Jonah was asleep at the bottom of the ship. Someone may say well, hold it right there, Jonah prays in the belly of the fish.. That’s prayer!

You are right, that is prayer – but that is not a prayer life. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, the only time they pray is when they are in trouble or when they want God to do something for them. They seem to have no use for God or no relationship with him when things are going great.

Prayer is more than just coming to God for something – it is a means by which we build a relationship with him. Prayer is not wanting him for something, it is wanting him because he is everything.

Conclusion

Let me leave you today with five things a developing and growing prayer life will keep and save you from:

• Bad decision making – Joshua 9:1-14; 1 Samuel 12:6-23
• Inability to rise above challenging situations – Mark 9:28-29
• Falling into and failing in times of temptation – Mark 14:37-38-50
• Becoming cold, carnal, lukewarm and lazy – Rev. 3:14-20; 1 Samuel 12:28
• A powerless life – James 5:16

So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise!.” Jonah 1:6

Arise today and let Christ shine on you!