But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were loosed. Acts 16:25, 26
The apostle Paul and Silas were on a mission trip and they landed in the city of Phillipi to preach the gospel. There was a girl in the city who was a fortune teller and made a lot of money for the men of that city. The apostle Paul set her free from a spirit of divination, and the businessmen of the city were infuriated that they lost a source of income.
Paul and Silas were beaten and put in an inner cell, chained in stocks to the wall. Around midnight, Silas might have said to Paul, "how did we end up here? I feel pretty discouraged about the whole thing. We are servants of the Lord, doing God’s will and now we are confined to a cell?!"
Paul must have looked at Silas and said, "why don’t we just lift up a praise the Lord? Let’s thank Him that we are still alive! Let’s praise Him because He is going to turn this around and bring something good out of this."
So, at midnight Paul and Silas began to pray and sing hymns to God! They didn’t allow the injustice of their situation to halt their praise. They didn’t allow their confinement to confine their cry. This reminds me of a song by Fred Hammond, “Blessed", where he sings “Late in the midnight hour, God's gonna turn it around, it's gonna work in your favor.” I believe when we chose to praise instead of panic in the midnight hour we get the attention of God and He turns our situation around.
Paul and Silas didn’t call out for deliverance. They weren’t rebuking the devil, the jailer, or anyone else. They were simply praising God for His goodness and mercy. And what happened? “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16:26). Paul & Silas experienced the effectiveness of praise while in the Philippian jail. Their praise shook the foundation of the jail, and the chains of everyone in that jail came loose.
There is so much power in our praise, even people we didn't expect will get free. When we praise at midnight, it not only brings our deliverance but also brings freedom to others. We cannot underestimate the power of our praise at the midnight hour. Let’s keep our praise flowing to the throne of God, let’s keep an attitude of gratitude towards our God, let’s keep trusting Him, and we will see Him turn things around. He will see us through. This too shall pass. God will accomplish so much in us and through us if we keep praising Him no matter what, even in the midnight hour.
Much Blessings & Love, Amazingly Graced, Your Servant,
Pastor John Masis
Let's keep our Faith Level above our Fear Level Our Worship Level above our Worry Level Our Praise Level above our Panic Level