Praying for those going through painful situations

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

The first powerful truth is that God is with us in those moments when we are in deep dark valleys. Shadow of the valley of death.
Valleys don't have shadows that we can see because they are beneath the valley. Their shadows are literally under them same as when the sun is overhead and our shadows are beneath us.

A shadow of the valley of death must be a very deep and dark place.
God assures us of His presence in that dark place. It will not feel like it but He is there as He has said.

Jonah 4:2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Jonah lets God reveal His nature in these words as he spoke in anger:
Gracious, Compassionate, Patient,Loving, Forgiving, Merciful

Jonah 2:1-10
When Jonah was in the Fish belly, this is what the Spirit of God led him to pray
v2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry.

In deep distress he called God and He answered. In the deep realm of death he called God and He answered

3You hurled me into the depths,
    into the very heart of the seas,
    and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
    swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
    from your sight;
yet I will look again
    toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
    the deep surrounded me;
    seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
    the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
    brought my life up from the pit.

In such a deep valley where only death loomed, God brought Jonah's life back from the pit

7 “When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
    to your holy temple.

When Jonah's life was ebbing away, he remembered God. I love this, when life was almost over, crossing over from life to death, seeing and experiencing your every bone die...
In that moment of lost control, in that moment where there's a deep sense of helplessness and death, in that moment Jonah's spirit turns to God.

He put it this ways: "I remembered you Lord"
In that place of death and brokenness, he turned to the maker of his entire being. "My prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple."

8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
In that moment of darkness as he turned towards God, he experienced such a deep love from God in  an amazingly powerful way.

I believe it is the power of God that draws Jonah to this deep love that in his last breath he starts bubbling over with so much love from God.
He starts addressing the Nineveh people unknowingly! Oh what a powerful God.
In fact at that moment he wasn't think about running to Tarshish. The Spirit of God in him showed what a great love the Ninevites were missing. Such and amazing love of God.

In the depth of the shadow of death, the love of God becomes tangible. He turns us towards Himself. Our eyes gaze and behold Him. Our whole being is brought into the love of God and He is love showing us the depth of His love.

Songs of Solomon 8:6
Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.[b]

9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
    will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

Now Jonah wants to sacrifice to his God with grateful praise. He wants to honour his vows before God. He wants to declare and shout it all out, salvation comes from God

10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

It is at the darkest moment that the Lord gave Jonah such a deep revelation of who He is. The heart of Jonah turns with deep love and praise for God. His heartbeat for God becomes so strong and all this happens in that flash of death. He is about to die but the Spirit of God is speaking life.
The Spirit of God talked of what Jonah would do in the power of God's love.

Praise God!