But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.
Acts 16:25-26
This has probably been one of my favorite scriptures through the last few years. It should be a story of hope for every time we find ourselves as prisoners. Oh, how these situations can be turned around to be something so life-altering.
We can stand in our chains of captivity and cry and moan and wait for the end of our sentence. Or we can raise our voices to sing a Hallelujah in the captivity. Then something amazing will begin.
In the same prison are other people that are listening and watching you. Music is soothing, David used to sooth the demons in Saul when he played his harp. The praise was probably soothing to the other prisoners. Piercing the dark, damp, heavy silence and distracting them from the pain and misery.
Then the most beautiful thing happened, and this is the point of this whole story. Paul and Silas brought the Holy Spirit into that prison by their faithfulness to prayer and worship. And right at the darkest part of the night, the Holy Spirit moved and not only were Paul and Silas freed but so were all the others in the prison.
There are people in your prison with you and their freedom depends on yours. When you invite the Holy Spirit to move in your captivity to your Daunter then when those chains are broken, others will be set free too.
It might be your children. Oh, how often cycles continue from one generation to another because no one has the courage to praise God in the prison and see the walls of captivity destroyed.
If you read on in this story you will see that the Prison Guard also got saved through this. When he came to check on the prisoners, afraid they had escaped, he found them still there, Paul and Silas were able to lead him and his family to the Lord.
What we do in our prisons can have such a profound effect not only on our lives but on the lives of those around us. Will you lift your hands despite the shackles of captivity and sing a Hallelujah that will make Heaven move?
