READING: Esther 5-10, Acts 16:11-40
Praying and singing hymns at midnight. I don’t know that’s what I would have been doing if I were in prison for my faith—but that’s what Paul and Silas did.
Incarceration and possible death did not stop them from praising the Lord together. In fact, something about their singing and praying was so powerful that the prisoners not only listened to them, but they stayed in the prison even after the doors had been supernaturally opened.
When I read stories like this one, I think how easily we get distracted and fail to pray and sing. Sometimes those “things” are frustrations, like God doesn’t answer our prayer like we wanted, His people don’t act like a Christian, the pastor didn’t reach out to us quickly enough, etc. In other cases, those things are our choices, like letting personal sin control our life, idolizing our work and chasing dollars, and neglecting our personal disciplines.
In any case, we’ve allowed something to get in the way of our talking to God and singing His praises—usually something much less costly than imprisonment for our faith. May God help us.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to pray and sing today no matter what I face.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Throughout the day, talk to God and praise Him.
TOMORROW’S READING: Job 1-3, Acts 17
