Well, in a way he did because the prayer he prayed with seaweed wrapped around his head is what triggered God's action there. And it sort of brings up this passage that came to mind with all the talk about faith:
"For without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him"
But I didn't mention it previously as it kind of contradicts my theme about the sovereignty of God.
Otoh, it was actually the fish swallowing Jonah that triggered his repentance and of course that was orchestrated directly by God. In the predicament he was in Jonah had no recourse but to repent and seek God. So Jonah praising God from inside the fish is like the prodigal son returning to his father, and God commanding the fish to vomit Jonah on dry land is like The father seeing the son from a long way off and going out to meet him.
It is not good to compare a prophet of God with the average person. God doesn't appear to all of us as he did to Paul on the road to Damascus, and God doesn't cause a whale to swallow every believer who disobeys God.
If God can simply irresistibly cause men to repent and believe, why did he need Jonah at all? Why didn't he simply irresistibly cause all the people of Ninevah to repent?
And God doesn't have to cause hardship for a person who steps out in sin. If you start drinking, you might become addicted, lose your wife and job, wreck your car and get thrown in jail. God doesn't have to cause this, these are the natural consequences that happen with drinking. Or, you start taking drugs and become addicted, you start breaking into houses to support your habit and get thrown in prison. Again, God doesn't have to cause this, these are the natural consequences of sin.
The prodigal son wasted his money away in riotous living. I just read a story of a former NFL star who made over 80 million dollars in his career, and today he is broke. He got four women pregnant and pays over 40 thousand dollars a month (yes, forty thousand dollars per month) in child support. God didn't have to cause that, that is the natural consequences of fooling around with many women.
The prodigal son's own sins brought him down and brought him to his senses, just as many men have hit rock bottom by drinking, drugs, gambling, fooling around, etc... The prodigal son realized he was actually much happier living in order in his father's house. All the things he thought he was missing and that would make him happy, he discovered brought only misery. This is what sin does, it destroys. He didn't have to be supernaturally zapped to realize this.
Now, I'm not saying God doesn't intervene, we have the stories of Paul and Jonah that proves he does at times. But that doesn't mean it is like that for every person.