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A Prayer for Those Struggling with a Disconnected Heart

     But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  Jonah 4:1-3

     Dear heavenly Father, I’m praying today for friends who, like Jonah, “theologically,” know you to be a “gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,” but who, emotionally, feel very disconnected from this good news right now. I know what that feels like, for I’ve been there as well.

     For some, their marriage is their “Nineveh”—a place of threat and pain, emptiness and hopelessness—one that makes the expensive cost of a ticket to Tarshish seem worth it. For others it’s the combination of loses and reversals, dashed hopes and unfilled dreams. For others, “Nineveh” is the “too-much” thought of having to stay in the same body, story and city—all which conspire to echo the haunting question, “Where is your God?”

     Lord, their resources are low and their resolve is nearly “shot”, so my cry for my friends is simple, have mercy on these I love. You’ve promised never to leave us or forsake us, even when we buy our tickets to Tarshish. You’ve promised sufficient grace for our very insufficient selves. When life feels like way too much, you’ve promised a way of escape—a way of wisdom, with an address other than Tarshish. It’s your own heart and embrace. May your mercy be an irresistible magnet; draw them in.

      Every time I’ve bought a one-way ticket away from your presence, it hasn’t worked out for me, at all. So be at work, Father, through waves, vines, gourds, worms, hot winds and big fish—whatever it takes, to convince all of us, us yet again, that the gospel is true, your name is Redeemer, and you’re more than enough. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ tender and welcoming name.

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