The power of God ... in prison?
- Christine DiGiacomo
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
About midnight, this happened.
Our priorities define us.
Have you thought about that?
Though we later read his eloquent prayers, this is the first we see that Paul was a man of prayer, and we get a peek into what his prayers and praising God accomplished.
In the start of Acts chapter 16, Paul’s second gospel journey, along with Silas, Timothy and Luke, Paul went into Philippi, ostensibly looking for the synagogue to preach Jesus. When he could not find a synagogue, he went out to the river where ‘he found a place of prayer,’ where Lydia (and some other women), who upon hearing of the Messiah who died and rose again, believed and was baptized!
And then as we look over Paul’s shoulder, we find him going back to pray at the river.1 Clearly, Paul put a high premium on prayer, though this is the first time it is noted. One day near the river, he cast a demon out of a slave girl who had made her owners a lot of money telling people’s futures. But once the girl had no demon, no fortune telling, and the owners were ticked! They dragged Paul and Silas before government officials, saying, “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews! …They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” This was a lie.
[Friend, one reason we ought ask God for wisdom daily is so that we will recognize the lies being told in our culture, and the lies of the enemy seeking to undermine our own thinking about God and ourselves. read.that.again]
A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
Stop! Do not keep reading until you grasp this: >Paul and Silas were unjustly seized, falsely accused, stripped naked and beaten with rods, thrown in prison, their feet locked into stocks.
Here in modern day America, I have never heard of anyone being beaten with rods, but a wee bit of research netted this: In the ancient world, a beating with rods was a horrible, ugly form of torture. A strong man would bind the victim’s arms tightly around his body, incapacitating the victim’s ability to move in much the same way as a straightjacket would do. Then while the victim’s upper chest and head still lay on the ground, his legs would be pulled up into the air. At this point, a man with a huge rod — normally made of metal — would begin whacking the bottom of the victim’s feet. He would whack and whack and whack until the feet of the victim were bleeding, broken, and maimed. At times this beating was so severe that the victim would afterward never be able to walk again.2 And can you imagine their backs?
With that in mind, peer into the jail with me and look
at how the beaten, bloodied prisoners behaved:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening.
Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. [Moved by their actions and the gospel Paul taught, the jailer believed!!] Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.3
Does prayer really work? Yes. Paul was a man of prayer, quite clearly, as he had gone out to the river to pray. But then he and Silas do the unimaginable --after being mercilessly tortured, they pray more and they also sing praises to God!
And God? Well he comes in response. He comes and does what only he can do--causing an earthquake which results in the jailer and his family coming to believe the life-saving message of Jesus Christ.
I have a confession. While I memorized the verse as a wee girl, 'Sirs what must I do to be saved?' and the simplicity of Paul's answer--"believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved," I missed an amazing detail from Luke's writing.
As I noted in a Morning Briefing the other day, the pronouns changed in the narrative--Luke moving from 'they' to 'we' once he joined the team. Look at this: when the earthquake shook, prison doors opened - previously I always envisioned only Paul and Silas being freed set free.... but no, everyone's chains fell off.
YOUR ATTENTION, please. As I pondered the greatness of that 'detail, asking God for his mind on the matter, I could not move away from what set 'freedom for all' in motion. prayer and praise. Though Paul and Silas were bloodied and in tremendous physical pain, they prayed and they sang praises to God. And the other prisoners were listening. [We do not know a single thing about the spiritual dispositions of those prisoners, but perhaps as they listened to Paul and Silas's prayers, as they heard them singing praises to God - in spite of the condition Paul and Silas were in - they too believed in Jesus Christ. Huh... I just wonder.] Regardless, they reaped the benefits of a move of God to cause an earthquake, open prison doors, and set them free.
Man, I love a good story, and this one has it all!
Prayer + Praise paves the way for a miracle which results in the salvation of a family...and I wonder who else?!
And once again, the crowd goes wild…all about midnight.
Prayer really works... and praise activates a move of God
all because God loves us so much,
Christine
Live from Brooklyn Tabernacle - Praise Him:
I have been at Brooklyn Tab when the 200+ voice choir came down and prayed for people all over the church . . . so powerful!
1 - Acts 16.16
2 - Rick Renner, https://renner.org/article/even-beatings-and-death-cannot-stop-a-man-who-is-determined/
3 - Acts 16.20-34