God is a God of second chances.  You could argue that God is a God of second and third and fourth and many chances.  Because God loves us, because He is merciful, He is constantly extending to us another opportunity to follow Him and turn our lives around.   Though all of us are worthy of condemnation, God extends to us opportunity for forgiveness and to turn back to Him. 

Perhaps one of the most important doctrines that will influence our ability to pray is the understanding of God’s Sovereignty.  The idea of God’s Sovereignty is that God is absolutely powerful and in control and as I live my life here on earth, my circumstances and my life have meaning, purpose, and consequence because God wills it so.

One of the themes of the book of Jonah is that God works through the messes of our lives.  Even though his mess was a result of his own stubbornness and sin, it was the very thing that God used to draw Jonah back to Himself.  We see Jonah turn back to the Lord during the storm and after being swallowed by a great fish.  “I called out to the Lord out of my distress and He answered me.”  (Jon 2:2)