Acts 16 reports on the adventures of Paul and Silas as they were on their missionary tour. At one point they ended up at Philippi. A slave girl, who had a spirit that predicted the future, began following them around and shouting about them. That got Paul’s attention fast (nothing like having a demon promote you). Paul cast out the spirit, which caused her handlers to take revenge on Paul and Silas for their now diminished income. They ended up being beaten and then cast into a Roman prison without a trial.
That’s when the shaking happened. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” [v25-27]
Oh, the shaking! Not just a little this time, but a lot! They were praying and singing and praising in their chains and suddenly the very foundation of the prison anchoring those chains shook “violently.” Then the doors of their prison flew open and “everybody’s chains came loose.”
Amazing … “everybody’s chains came loose”—not just the chains of the believers! When the church finally gets on her knees and prays, when she begins to worship and praise God Almighty in spirit and in truth, when she becomes obedient to the Word, not only will her chains come loose, everybody’s will!
We want to influence this world? We want to break the chains of bondages and slavery to sin … then we are going to need to do it God’s way. The world’s way doesn’t seem to be working too well. And if we are trying to do it their way so we don’t offend them, then the chains are only going to get stronger. Praying & Worshipping will cause a whole lot of shaking and a whole lot of liberty!
