They danced and sang praises to God at the top of their voices and the other prisoners heard them. To everyone’s amazement, suddenly there was a great earthquake, which shook the foundation of the building, and opened every door in the prison. Their chains were also broken.
Asking someone to sing a praise song in the midst of a pandemic sounds a bit ridiculous. No wonder the psalmist wrote in Psalms 137:4; “How shall we a sing the Lord’s song in a strange land”. This is a strange time for everyone and it’s difficult to sing praises. It’s a time when no one knows what is going to happen the next minute.
No one saw this coming, but it’s here now. We have just got to live through it, hoping this one too shall pass. Aside from the social distancing that is imposed on everyone, there is something else we can do that will see us through this time, and that is praising the Lord. Either you have something to praise Him for or not, and even though you might not understand the reason for praising Him, you’ve just got to praise Him purely because he is God.
Praising Him in Lockdown
Pandemic or no pandemic, He remains God. He changes not and I am sure He has good intentions even though it doesn’t seem like it. One thing I know, and I am sure of, is that He will always show up for His own. Everyone is in lockdown and can do virtually nothing. But you can praise God, just as Paul and Silas did. In Acts 16:25- 27, Paul and Silas were in chains locked in prison. It’s not clear how long they were in prison but the bible states that the time they began to praise God was 12 O’ clock. I wonder if they had been praying all day for a miracle and nothing happened. When it did eventually dawn on them that prayer was not going to deliver them out of jail they began to praise at 12 O’clock.
Paul and Silas decided to put on their dancing shoes, even though they were in prison and the chains could not stop them! They danced and sang praises to God at the top of their voices and the other prisoners heard them. To everyone’s amazement, suddenly there was a great earthquake, which shook the foundation of the building, and opened every door in the prison. Their chains were also broken. The surprising thing is that it was not only Paul and Silas chains that got broken, but all other prisoners found their chains dropped and they were also free, simply by praising the Lord.
Praise Does Miracles!
It was not prayer that freed them, neither is it fasting. Don’t get me wrong though, fasting and prayer is good, and we can connect with heaven by doing that, but what God really wants from us is our heart of worship through praise. That’s what moves God – Praise: “He inhabits the praises of His people” (Psalm 22: 3).
Instead of complaining about your circumstances, try praise instead and see if it will get you through this time? I have tried it and I still do, and I can testify that it works! So why not start praising God now? Don’t wait till it’s 12 O’clock like Paul and Silas did before you start praising Him, because the miracle you need might be closer than you thought.
##On- Your -Marks –Get- Set – Praise##.
