In The Belly Of The Whale -When Your Prayers Hit The Ceiling-

Do you ever feel like your prayers slip from your lips only to collide gracelessly with the ceiling? No petition, no hope, no whisper ever makes it to heavenly ears. Much like talking to a brick wall, your words fall on deaf ears.

They ascend to the ceiling- only to fall like shards of glass painful reminders of the silence. The unanswered questions, the problems glaring back at you. It's too big, He won't answer. He doesn't care. He's got other people to worry about other problems that need his attention.

I wonder how Jonah felt, sitting in the belly of that fish. Alone, in the dark, life looking pretty hopeless. I wonder if he felt like his prayers were pinging off the hulking smelly carcass of that beast. Each taunting him. The hours ticking by, SILENCE.

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Deafening, hopeless, lonely, silence. He didn't know that fish was going to spit him out again, only that it seemed that God had forgotten him.

I have to say I've had many "belly of the fish" moments. Stinking, lonely place where my prayers seem to barely reach the ceiling.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18 NIV

The loneliest places are the ones you can't hear his voice, and the devil whispers in our ears you're alone. You're unheard.

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalms 27:8 NLT

Today was a big day for many, people flocked to our area to see The Great American Eclipse. For several moments the sun disappeared behind the moon leaving middle Tennessee bathed in darkness. The God who created the world, and perfectly timed the rotation of the moon and the sun so that only a new moon can cause a solar eclipse listens to you and me.

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Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! Psalm 116:2 NLT 

He bends down, leans close to hear about my struggles, my pain, my joys and my heartache. He holds me close like a father as I cry my eyes out, even when I can't feel his presence with me He's there.

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