Prayer as Life Slips Away

The Obscure Biblical Character is... Jonah! (whale of a tale? -pity laugh-)
Jonah 2:7 NKJV
"When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.

So we did this whole week on Jonah before, but when I randomly opened my Bible to do this last week, it opened up on Jonah, so Jonah we shall study again (for only a day, though).

The NLT version says this: As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to You in your holy Temple.

Soul fainting, life slipping away, life ebbing away (NIV)... same basic principle. Dying. Jonah said that when he was dying, he turned to God in prayer.

Now, he said this prayer in the big fish's belly. We all know how the story ends (the fish spits him out, an answer to Jonah's prayers). Jonah saw a problem, prayed to God about it, and it came out okay.

So this next week's Obscure Biblical Character (with less pathetic jokes) is:
-was in charge of a jail
-met Paul when he was in jail
-gave God an opportunity to protect Paul

Just for future reference, he isn't named in the Bible, but he's in the book of Acts.

In His Service,
Joyce