
Praying from the Belly of the Hard Thing
Oh, I Felt This Chapter More Than I Expected To
I didn’t expect Jonah to get to me like this.
I’ve read his story before, more than once. I know the big moments. The running. The storm. The fish. But this time, it was his prayer that caught me off guard. Specifically this line in Jonah 2:5: “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul.”
I paused there. Something about it just stopped me.
Because haven’t we all had seasons like that? When the ache doesn’t just sit in the chaos around you, but somehow moves in deeper… into your bones… into your soul? That’s where Jonah was when he prayed. Not at a clean, quiet altar. Not after things had calmed down. But from the very center of the mess, in the dark belly of it all.
And somehow...oddly...that gives me courage.
Because I think, if I’m honest, there are times I hold back with the Lord. I don’t always say the whole truth. Not out of rebellion, but more out of fear. Fear that it will sound like I’m doubting. Or complaining. Or not faithful enough. So I smooth it out. I rehearse it a little. I soften the hard edges of what I’m really carrying.
But Jonah didn’t do that.
He just opened his mouth and let it all out...the fear, the regret, the desperation, even the flicker of hope that hadn’t quite gone out. It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t careful. It was raw and reaching.
And I think… maybe that’s what God actually wants.
Not the cleaned-up version of our prayers. Not the one with tidy resolutions or just the “right” words. But the real version. The in-the-middle-of-it version. Even when we don’t know what the ending will be.
I’m learning, slowly, that there’s something sacred about praying from the belly of the hard thing. From the confusion. From the sadness. From the moment when you’re not sure if things will turn around.
Because that’s where Jonah met God. Not after. But right in the thick of it.
And that gives me hope, not just that God will hear me.
But that He’ll meet me exactly where I am.
Without filters.
Without rehearsals.
Just me.
Just Him.
Just prayer.