1.  Take a trip with Jonah! You may have traveled to thirteen countries, lived on three continents, and changed addresses two dozen times, but have you EVER experienced a trip like the one Jonah took to Nineveh? What was Jonah’s attitude when he started his journey by ship?  [See Lesson 4: The Jonah Saga]

2.  A prophet with flaws.

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Why does God choose people with flaws to be prophets? Shouldn’t He select perfect people for such important tasks? What were Jonah’s major faults? How did they affect his work as a prophet? Imagine being inside the big fish with Jonah. Would you be in a mood for a prayer meeting? Or, like Jonah, would you implore God for deliverance and an opportunity to be forgiven?

3.  “Go to Nineveh.” What kind of a place was Nineveh? Do today’s church missionaries ever end up in cities or countries where evil abounds? Why did Jonah flee in the opposite direction to get away from his assignment? How did God respond? How did Jonah know it was God sending a message when the storm came up? Do you and I ever feel like running away from tough work we’ve been assigned to do for God? Can you share a time in your life when you, like Jonah, wanted to escape, but God kept you where He’d sent you to work for Him?

4.  The belly of the fish. A revolting thought, isn’t it? To be rescued from drowning by being placed in the “smelly belly” of a fish? Why was the prayer of Jonah preserved for us today? Are we ever tempted to say to God, “Save me from XYZ, and I’ll do ABC for You”? Is that a good model for a prayer from the depths? How did the fish comply with God’s desire to rescue Jonah? How willing is God to put our feet on solid ground?

5.  The Nineveh convention. Why did God turn the treacherous trip by Jonah into a great soul-winning convention? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with joy to see the working of the Holy Spirit on people’s hearts? Was Jonah a powerful evangelist? Or was it his heart that made God’s message clear when he gave full surrender to God’s plan?

6.  Jonah’s “Great Disappointment.” Would you say that the greatest irony of the story of Jonah is his stubborn anger because the wicked city was not destroyed? Wasn’t that the theme of Jonah’s sermon—to repent? Why wasn’t Jonah delighted that the Nineveh people did just that? Or is it even more ironic that Jonah throws a fit because the vine that had sprouted up for his protection against the heat of the desert has wilted away, leaving Jonah exposed to the hot sun? Do you and I ever become upset when events don’t work out exactly as we thought they should?

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