Bro. Parrish
You make some good points. Maybe my problem is that I was a Boy Scout, and our motto was "Be Prepared". And I tell you, that motto has truly helped me throughout my life.
Now, in this case, prepared means to be ready at all times for any situation that might occur.
And I read prepared in Jonah the same way. God had sent that whale and worm to be at that given place at that given time. Now, I don't know how God communicated with these animals, so that is why I said "spoke". However God did it, the whale and the worm got the message and were there to get the job done. I grew up on the ocean, and you don't see whales that often. But there was one right there when they threw Jonah overboard. And it's a good thing, Jonah most likely would have drowned.