Turning Your Midnight into Dawn with Prayer and Praise
Acts 16:25a
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God…
What will you do in your midnight hour? The answer to this question could be the difference between bondage and deliverance! The fact is, everyone at some point in their lives will experience a midnight season. Whether it comes in the form of a divorce, a child gone astray, the loss of a job, bankruptcy, the loss of your health, or maybe even the loss of a loved one, regardless of what it may be, these kinds of unfavorable circumstances often leave us feeling imprisoned and powerless to do anything about them. Weighed down by the pressures of such traumatic experiences, we are often so beaten down by the jerks and the jolts that we sometimes wonder if we will ever be able to sing again. Sometimes, even our prayers grow dim under the shadow of seemingly overpowering, consistent, routine blows of an enemy who would have us convinced that God may have forgotten us. But, the devil is a liar! What I admire about Paul and Silas was that in spite of the fact that they were lied on, beaten, and cast into prison (for doing the right thing, might I add), they still had a prayer, and they still had a song!
Notice with me if you will that while they were praying and singing praises unto God (not complaints, but praises), all of the other prisoners were listening in! Here is a word for you; you are where you are so that when you go to praying and praising God, the others who will be listening and watching will experience deliverance as a direct result of witnessing your very own breakthrough! Faith is contagious; it cannot be spread without an ear to absorb the Word. So, since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, open your mouth, call upon the name of the Lord, and give Him praise right in the middle of your crisis, and He will begin to move mightily on your behalf, and on the behalf of those around you!
I believe with all of my heart that it is only when we quit our whining, doubting, and pouting, and when we put on a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that God really begins to move in on our behalf. You might be waiting on God, but He might be waiting on you. He has given us the power to turn things around by simply praying, and then by praising! Have you done your share lately? Why wait? Now’s the time!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God…
What will you do in your midnight hour? The answer to this question could be the difference between bondage and deliverance! The fact is, everyone at some point in their lives will experience a midnight season. Whether it comes in the form of a divorce, a child gone astray, the loss of a job, bankruptcy, the loss of your health, or maybe even the loss of a loved one, regardless of what it may be, these kinds of unfavorable circumstances often leave us feeling imprisoned and powerless to do anything about them. Weighed down by the pressures of such traumatic experiences, we are often so beaten down by the jerks and the jolts that we sometimes wonder if we will ever be able to sing again. Sometimes, even our prayers grow dim under the shadow of seemingly overpowering, consistent, routine blows of an enemy who would have us convinced that God may have forgotten us. But, the devil is a liar! What I admire about Paul and Silas was that in spite of the fact that they were lied on, beaten, and cast into prison (for doing the right thing, might I add), they still had a prayer, and they still had a song!
Notice with me if you will that while they were praying and singing praises unto God (not complaints, but praises), all of the other prisoners were listening in! Here is a word for you; you are where you are so that when you go to praying and praising God, the others who will be listening and watching will experience deliverance as a direct result of witnessing your very own breakthrough! Faith is contagious; it cannot be spread without an ear to absorb the Word. So, since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, open your mouth, call upon the name of the Lord, and give Him praise right in the middle of your crisis, and He will begin to move mightily on your behalf, and on the behalf of those around you!
I believe with all of my heart that it is only when we quit our whining, doubting, and pouting, and when we put on a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that God really begins to move in on our behalf. You might be waiting on God, but He might be waiting on you. He has given us the power to turn things around by simply praying, and then by praising! Have you done your share lately? Why wait? Now’s the time!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill