An abrupt ending to the story leaves us with an unanswered question, and one which was probably there in the unrecorded discussion God and Jonah had at the beginning of this whole episode. God had been seriously concerned about the people and the animals in that great city of Nineveh.

What a ridiculous response Jonah gave to The Lord. I am angry enough to die! He really sounds like a spoilt child. There was obviously no thought in his response, and what did he think would happen if he died? I believe God was laughing to Himself and playing games.

Nothing God seemed to do had any long term effect on Jonah who was still entrenched in the world of self pity. He seems to have forgotten the amazing answer to prayer that he had after his time in the stomach of the whale. When he was spewed out unharmed!

This verse always makes me smile. Just when we think all was going well, our prophet would be happy again, the very thing that made him happy disappeared! Jonah must have wondered what was going to happen next, and we can imagine that he would be angry about the worm.

It seems to me that Jonah was the centre of his world, and his moods changed according to his circumstances. Do yours? Being a Christian is to live like Jesus did, He did not seem to have bad moods, and He is renowned for living for others instead of himself.

There are often times when we pray for something and God does not seem to hear. My own experience of unanswered prayer was when I had a gall bladder problem. But I am so glad those prayers were not answered. The experiences I had then were worth all the suffering!

What makes you angry? Do you think the same things make God angry? What do you do with your anger? Remember that anger is not a sin, it is what we do with the anger than can be sinful, and the Bible tells us to let our anger be short-lived.

How sad that Jonah did not feel able to rejoice at the fact that thousands of people had turned to the Lord who loved them and forgave all who turn to Him. What a great testimony it could have been! But Jonah focused not on the Lord but on himself.

Jonah still has some growing to do at this point in the story. He is a long way from thinking the same way as God. He does not have the same compassion and love. And he is just embarrassed that what he told the people of Nineveh did not happen.

Prayer works. Only at the end of time will we realise how much disaster and destruction God has saved us from as a result of prayer. Think about how many near misses you might have had. Think of yourself and others and rejoice that God has brought you this far.