Jonah 2:1

Now, in the most unlikely sanctuary imaginable, Jonah prays. From inside the fish's belly, surrounded by darkness and water, the prophet who would not speak to Nineveh finally speaks to God. The narrator notes that he prays to the LORD his God, a tender phrase that signals relationship restored even in the depths. The man who fled the Lord's presence now seeks His face.

There is great comfort here for anyone who has wandered. No place is too dark or too far for prayer to reach God, and no failure puts us beyond His hearing. Jonah does not wait until he is back on dry land to call out; he prays from the very belly of his trouble. Often it is in the depths, when all our escapes have failed, that we finally turn back to the One we were running from. The God who prepared the fish is ready to hear the prayer offered from within it.