COMPELLING A CHANGE THROUGH PRAISE

01/30/2023

"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed." (Acts 16:25-26)

It has often been said among Christian circles that prayer changes things and indeed it does. James 5:16 says, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." In essence, when a righteous person engages in prayer that is effective and heart-felt, that person can compel a change in any situation. 

Today's theme scripture provides us with another formula for compelling a change and it is praying that concludes with singing praises to God. The Bible says, "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." And they must have been very loud because everyone in the prison where they were, heard them. 

Sometimes, we are given a glimpse into what happens in the realm of the spirit by the physical manifestation and in the account of Act 16:26, a shift in the realm of the spirit occurred which manifested in the physical as a bond-loosing earthquake because Paul and Silas prayed and praised God. 

How can I be certain that this is what happened? Psalm 29 shows us that when we praise God we are exercising His strength over the might of difficult situations. One might conclude that praise is prayer in its highest form. In Psalm 29:2 the Bible says, "Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." The outcome is that this formula of prayer with praise triggers God's voice to produce a series of events which Psalm 29:3-8 lists. One of these events as was applicable in the case of Paul and Silas is captured in Psalm 29:8 which says, "The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh."

Being locked up unjustly in a prison with one's hands in stocks, might easily have passed for a wilderness experience. However, when Paul and Silas ascribed glory to God, the LORD shook that wilderness according to the word of God. 

Maybe the change you want to compel is in your family tree. The doctors may have attributed a predisposition to certain ailments to your family tree and unfortunately, you believed it and that belief has become a stronghold that surfaces in your mind from time to time, hear me, today, you will pray and praise God concerning it. God's voice shatters that stronghold as it relates to your family tree today. Psalm 29:5 says, "The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon."

Whatever the situation is, find your peculiar case in Psalm 29 and understand how prayer and praise are suitable to compel a change. Go back over the devotionals these past few days as well. Maybe aside from prayer and praise, you need to combine your response with at least one of the other tools for compelling a change in your affairs. 

Whichever it is, your duty is not to tolerate anything the Lord hasn't ordained for you but to instigate a change. Remember, you are first and foremost, God's primary change agent in your life. 

God bless you

Faith-filled Confession

I declare that I am God's tool to appropriate change in my life. I bear the responsibility of changing the circumstances of my life, knowing that the good fight of faith to which I have been called is a fight wherein I glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in every aspect of my life. Glory!!!! 

ONE YEAR READING PLAN:  Exodus 22-24; Matthew 20:17-34