Family, I want you to picture a scene with me. It’s midnight. You’re in the darkest, most
secure part of a Roman prison. Your feet are fastened in stocks. Your back is raw and
bleeding from a brutal flogging. You’ve been arrested, beaten, and publicly shamed
for doing the work of God. What is your natural response? Anger? Despair?
Complaining? Questioning God?
This is the exact situation Paul and Silas found themselves in, in Acts chapter 16. They
were in the inner prison, in maximum security. Their circumstances were screaming
defeat. But what did they do? The Bible says in verse 25, “About midnight Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening
to them.”
Stop and think about the radical faith in that moment. They weren’t praising God after
the escape. Their praise provoked the escape. They weren’t singing because they felt
good. They were singing because they knew God was good, regardless of their
feelings or their situation. This is a profound truth for every single one of us today:
Praise is not just a song we sing; it is a weapon we wield.
So often, we treat praise as the caboose of our faith train. We think, “Once God heals
me, then I’ll praise Him. Once God provides the money, then I’ll praise Him. Once I get
my breakthrough, then I’ll have a reason to sing.” But God’s economy is upside down
to the world’s. In the Kingdom of God, praise is the engine, not the caboose! It goes
before the victory. 2 Chronicles 20 tells us King Jehoshaphat sent the worshippers out
ahead of his army, and as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes
against their enemies and they were defeated. The victory was won through worship!
Psalm 22:3 says that God is “enthroned on the praises of Israel.” When we praise, we
are building a throne for the King of Kings to come and sit in the midst of our situation.
Praise shifts the atmosphere. It takes the focus off the prison walls and puts it on the
God who is bigger than any prison. It silences the voice of the accuser and magnifies
the voice of our Redeemer.
What happened when Paul and Silas praised? Verse 26: “Suddenly there was such a
violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the
prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” Their praise created a
divine disruption! It shook the very foundations of their problem.
What is the prison you are in today? Is it a prison of depression? A prison of anxiety? A
prison of debt? A prison of unforgiveness? Your circumstances may be telling you that
you are locked in for good. But I came to tell you today that you have a key. That key is
praise.
The Bible calls it a “sacrifice of praise” in Hebrews 13. Why is it a sacrifice? Because
you offer it when you don’t feel like it. You offer it when it costs you something. You
offer it when every part of your flesh wants to complain and worry. That is the praise
that gets God’s attention. That is the praise that shakes foundations.
We are not going to wait for the feeling. We are not going to wait for the
circumstances to change. We are going to make a decision, right now, to offer a
sacrifice of praise. We are going to lift our voices and declare that our God reigns,
that He is faithful, that He is our deliverer. There is a breakthrough in this room today,
and it’s going to be released through the sound of your praise. Let’s lift our voices to
the King!