What a Pathetic Prayer!

     I am a father of three children ages 9, 7 and 6.  So needless to say I have heard my share of crying over the years.  It starts with the most beautiful cry you have ever heard: "A babies first cry!"  Then you start to be able to distinguish between different cries.  You have the: "I am wet" cry, "I am tired" cry and "I am mad" cry.  As they get older the cries become different.  Now you have the: "my sister is picking on me" cry, "I don't want to clean my room" cry and "This is so not fair" cry.  I have become quit good at ignoring these cries, but the cry that always gets an immediate response from me is the "I am really hurt" cry.  I come running to the rescue of my children when I know they are in trouble or danger.
     Today we pick up the story of Jonah as he is crying out to God from the belly of a great fish!  I can only imagine how terrifying that place would be.  Jonah describes his life slipping away, and how God rescued him from the jaws of death!  In fact some scholars believe that Jonah drowned in the fish's stomach and that God brought him back to life when he was spat back upon dry ground.  Regardless, Jonah prays this prayer in chapter 2 out of complete desperation.
     As I read this story, I can't help but think about how pathetic Jonah's prayer sounds.  I get mad at Jonah, "It is your own fault, you are there.  You rebelled against God.  He is actually saving your life by having a great fish swallow you."  But then I think about all the times I have cried out to God in my own horrible situations created by my own bad decisions.
     Jonah says, "I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me."  God is a loving heavenly father and he hears and answers the cries of his kids when they are in trouble.  He may not always answer those prayers exactly the way we would like but he always answers.
     We can be tempted to think that our prayers have to be elegant, theologically accurate and in King James English.  But I think God wants to hear our pathetic prayers.  The word "pathetic" means "having the capacity to move one to a compassionate pity."  God hears our pathetic prayers.  So if you are in trouble today don't stop praying pathetic prayers.