OPEN DOOR

02/26/2024

"Around 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!" (Acts 16:25-26)

Listen, you are neither weak nor defeated. Jesus didn't call you the salt of the earth for nothing. There is an anointing on you to change hopeless situations, and this is why you cannot sit idle and act helpless or hopeless like the rest of the world when faced with impossible situations. Is there trouble at home or work? Don't cower in fear as if there is no God in you. Don't confess hopelessness like those without God. In Job 22:29, the Bible says, "If people are in trouble and you say, 'Help them,' God will save them." Their deliverance is connected to you saying something. Because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in you, you are not cast down like the rest of the world. In actuality, sinking in the rivers of adversity has become an absolute impossibility.

Regardless of the enormity of the challenge you face, see it as an opportunity to demonstrate God's power. We can learn from Paul and Silas, who were arrested for preaching the gospel. One would have expected them to be discouraged, especially since they got in trouble for doing what God asked them to do. But that wasn't their attitude. In the midst of all that they faced—stripped naked, beaten severely with wood, arrested, and put in jail with the intent to never let them go—instead of getting depressed by the situation, around midnight, the Bible says Paul and Silas began praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. They didn't pray and praise God quietly or in their minds. It also wasn't the two-minute "Do it, Lord" prayer. I believe they prayed, knowing that the victory was theirs. They prayed and travailed until they started singing. I believe that the songs were notes of their victory in the spirit. For Paul and Silas, their assurance was the song of victory that came from their spirit. After all, songs in the Bible are indicators of victory.

As Paul and Silas responded to this victory song from their spirit, suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flung open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! Saints, it takes travailing prayer to cause a seismic shift of this magnitude.

Hear me, things may seem hopeless on the surface, but you already have the victory. There is a victory song bubbling within you that you must let out. And as you sing that song, every barrier will give way. Not just for you but for everyone else around you. Remember, it wasn't just their prison door that opened; the Scripture says that all the doors immediately flung open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! Hallelujah!

So it's time for an open door.

Faith-filled confession 

God is with me and in me. My victory over adverse situations is eternally settled. Doors of greatness, celebration, and advancement are open to me today, In Jesus' name! 

One-Year Bible Reading Plan: Numbers 16-17; Mark 6:33-56