{"id":1822,"date":"2024-11-10T11:12:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T11:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:43:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T17:43:38","slug":"november-10-praise-that-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/november-10-praise-that-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"November 10, Praise that rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. . . the foundations of the prison were shaken.<\/strong> Acts 16:25-26<\/p>\n\n

The New Testament chronicles three missionary journeys by the Apostle Paul to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Asia Minor.\u00a0\u00a0During the second of these journeys, the Holy Spirit led Paul and a co-laborer Silas, into Macedonia.\u00a0\u00a0During their time in the city of Philippi, many people came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and a church was established.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

One of the first converts to Christian faith in Philippi was Lydia.\u00a0\u00a0(Her story is told in Acts 16:14-15).\u00a0\u00a0Another movement of the Gospel in Philippi was the restoration of a demon possessed slave girl (who\u2019s mastered monopolized on how the dark spirit had empowered her with the ability of fortune telling).\u00a0\u00a0Paul proclaimed the power of Christ over the slave girl and she was healed.\u00a0\u00a0However, her master became incensed against Paul for causing this money-making scheme to end, so Paul and Silas were seized and brought before the city officials.\u00a0\u00a0A mob-like crowd revolted against the missionaries, and Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into the inner confines of the jail.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Do you see the shadowy prison cell?\u00a0\u00a0Can you imagine God\u2019s servants with their feet in stocks?\u00a0\u00a0The place cold, dirty, and void of any hope.\u00a0\u00a0But listen closely to their dark confinement. From within, something is about to erupt<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

I am not sure how it began, but I imagine one of the two missionaries started with a low hum of praise.\u00a0\u00a0And perhaps this jubilant sound quickened the faith of the other, and the quiet hum quickly turned into an amazing chorus of praise to the name of Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Can you hear the sound?\u00a0\u00a0Unexpected.\u00a0\u00a0But powerful.\u00a0\u00a0Loud.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0And they not only praised. They prayed.\u00a0\u00a0They sought the face of God as they rendered choruses of praise unto Him.\u00a0\u00a0And, then it happened.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The prison began to shake.\u00a0\u00a0And this was not small tremor. The earth began to actually quake.\u00a0\u00a0And, although the shaking grew violent, a comforting presence came over Paul and Silas.\u00a0\u00a0The prison doors flung open, and the fetters of all those imprisoned fell off.\u00a0\u00a0This was indeed a divine deliverance from bondage.\u00a0\u00a0But not the type of deliverance that one might assume.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, Paul and Silas were free to go – to escape.\u00a0\u00a0But that wasn\u2019t the will of our God entirely.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, Paul and Silas were used to offer a different type of deliverance on this particular night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The jailer had been under strict orders to keep Paul and Silas guarded.\u00a0\u00a0The quake rendered that impossible, so the guard attempted to take his own life, as his superiors would have likely ordered his execution due to the prison break.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>But this was a prison shake, not a prison break.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0And Paul yelled out to the guard, \u201cdo not harm yourself, we are all here.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When the guard saw that no one had escaped he became overwhelmed at the miracle and understood that this occasion was actually God\u2019s invitation for salvation.\u00a0\u00a0And then the deliverance happened (the real deliverance \u2013 the one God intended).\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n

28<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But Paul shouted, \u201cDon\u2019t harm yourself! We are all here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n

29\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.\u00a030<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>He then brought them out and asked, \u201cSirs, what must I do to be saved?\u201d31<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>They replied, \u201cBelieve\u00a0in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved\u2014you and your household.\u201d\u00a032<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.\u00a033<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>At that hour of the night\u00a0the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.\u00a034<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he\u00a0was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God\u2014he and his whole household.\u00a0(Acts 16:28-34)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Do you see the miracle?\u00a0\u00a0Can you feel this moment? From confinement and desperation to praise, and onto rejoicing and celebrating what God had done. Yes, Paul and Silas seemed to be the focus of the story. But actually, the focus of the story was on a deliverance that far outshines any jail break.\u00a0\u00a0God used a crisis in the lives of His servants to bring salvation to an unsuspecting bystander and his entire household.\u00a0\u00a0And God will do the same in your crisis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Have you ever considered that the very thing you are enduring at this moment, that crisis from which you desire deliverance, may be used by God to deliver someone else? Yes, although we desire deliverance from our own crises, God desires that our crises become an opportunity for someone to be delivered in a far greater way.\u00a0\u00a0God may be working in your crisis to present His saving power to another soul. I realize this is a hard truth.\u00a0\u00a0But don\u2019t give up on God.\u00a0\u00a0You have not seen the full impact of why you are in the crisis.\u00a0\u00a0Trust Him.\u00a0\u00a0He does not waste opportunities in the lives of His children.\u00a0\u00a0So, trust Him.\u00a0\u00a0And while you are waiting to experience what God will do in your crisis, sing.\u00a0\u00a0Sing praises and pray.\u00a0\u00a0He will respond.\u00a0\u00a0Just keep praising and keep praying. And watch the walls of your predicament begin to shake for the glory of God and the announcement of His love manifested in Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Praise and pray.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Can you see the walls beginning to shake? Can you feel your jail house beginning to quake? Sing out. Praise the name of our Lord. God’s deliverance is closer than you think.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Blessings.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. . . the foundations of the prison were shaken. Acts 16:25-26 The New Testament chronicles three missionary journeys by the Apostle Paul to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Asia Minor.\u00a0\u00a0During the second of these journeys, the Holy Spirit led Paul and a …<\/p>\n

November 10, Praise that rocks<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-todays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3447,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions\/3447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}