Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

_________________________________________________

Something very, very special was going on in that awful jail cell.

Picture what happened before this midnight praise session. Paul and Silas have been stripped of their clothes, severely beaten with rods (much worse than whips), they were thrown into the “inner prison” with their feet secured in stocks. Yet, after all this, they were worshiping and were not doing it quietly as the other prisoners were able to listen.

Perhaps it went back to that “Macedonian Call.” In Acts 16:9 it says, “Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” What follows was the account of Lydia’s conversion and the deliverance of the slave girl — both women.

The first Macedonian man mentioned in the narrative is the jailor guarding Paul and Silas.

Could it have been that when they were brought into prison, Paul recognized the jailor as the man in his vision? Would that not inspire worship and praise? Or perhaps it was simply their faith and trust that the Lord, knowing that He would hear their prayers, that ignited their worship and praise.

The psalms of David are instructive for deliverance prayer. David was often in danger, and cried out to the Lord for help, but at the same time always examined his own heart in the process. Like Paul and Silas, David knew he was called to do what he was to do, and he also realized that he needed the Lord’s continual help to enable him to do it. That we would recognize this simple truth as well.

PRAYER STARTER…

O Great Lord God, praise you for hearing our cries for mercy as well as deliverance. May we trust your providence, knowing that you are aware of our plights and problems, strains and struggles of life. With this confidence, may we sing songs of praise even in the darkest night.

(Continue this prayer as the Holy Spirit directs you personally.)