Paul and Silas ended up in prison because they were being followed by a female slave possessed by a spirit. When Paul and Silas commanded an evil spirit to come out of a slave girl, her owners were furious and dragged them to court. After Paul had casted the demon out, he was beaten and arrested because the masters had lost their source of income. Key Point Through the witness of Paul and Silas to the Philippian jailer and his family, the kingdom of God grew. The woman in this passage was a slave both spiritually by the demons using her as a fortune teller and physically by her masters making a profit from her. We must arise and fight. Even though were not in jail right now, I believe that we need to seek out true fellowship and community with our brothers and sisters in Christ. At midnight, Paul and Silas were singing hymns and praising God. But Paul stopped him. Spiritually speaking, any Christian who is not vigilant and watchful, or not a lover of midnight prayers, the devil will come and sow all manners of problems in his or her life. We are looking at all of this here today. BASIC SCRIPTURES FOR MIDNIGHT BATTLES: Acts 16:25-34, "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Her owners accused Paul and Silas of offending Roman customs and laws. Here the Lord is encouraging everyone of His children to wake up in the night and pray for their families, the youths and everyone. This upset her owners because they earned money by her fortune-telling. The common time for spiritual attacks are from 12am -3am. I can look at this and say that this is a marvelous and miraculous work. It was a new experience for the prisoners and a wonderful testimony of Christian trustfulness and thankfulness. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyones chains came loose. ). You dont need to go and meet any prophet to see vision for you. Psalm 50:5. David, the man who never lost a single battle in all his life, has this to say: We may be so bound in the prison and stocks of circumstances that we cannot do anything other than pray. When God opens a door, nobody can close it. Prayer associated with corporate worship (, It is also interesting that the word "praying" (, ) here in verse 25 means Any wicked power on any evil altar against me, you shall not succeed tonight , in the name of Jesus. These points allowed me to see the power of prayer, where things changed immediately. God causes His kingdom to grow in the most unusual earthly circumstances. If you remember Paul and Silas, they didnt stop and say, Oh, lets talk about the situation. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. Copyright 2016 Concordia Publishing House All rights reserved Seeds of Faith, New Testament 1: God Sends His Son to Save Us, New Testament 2: Jesus Shows He Is True God, New Testament 3: Jesus Teaches about Gods Kingdom, New Testament 4: Jesus Dies and Rises to Save Us, New Testament 5: The Holy Spirit Leads the Apostles, Old Testament 1: God Creates a World and a People, Old Testament 2: God Protects His People in Egypt and the Exodus, Old Testament 3: God Provides Judges and Kings, Old Testament 4: God Works through Prophets and Kings, Fear Love & Trust: Following Gods Commandments, Pray Praise and Give Thanks: Jesus Teaches Us to Pray, Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks, Lesson 6: Zacchaeus, Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks, Lesson 8: Job, Delivered, Lesson 14: Timothy Lives as Gods Child, Delivered, Lesson 13: Jesus Teaches about an Unforgiving Servant, Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him, Lesson 1: God Leads in Cloud and Fire, Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him, Lesson 2: God Divides the Jordan River, Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him, Lesson 3: God Controls the Sun and the Moon, Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him, Lesson 4: God Answers Gideons Prayer with Dew, Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him, Lesson 5: God Rains Fire. She earned money for her owners by fortune-telling. Pray for about 1 or 2 hours in the night and you will begin to see revelations and visions of what is happening in the spiritual realm! Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter . Lord, I bless your name for fighting for me sovereignly. Any stray bullet from the kingdom of darkness shall not locate my household, in Jesus name. Its a beautiful thing, how Christ compels us to sing. Join our weekly TGIF newsletter and receive recent articles and fresh resources from the web. If you must overcome the problems around you and dismantle the operation of the wicked in your life, then you must understand the power of midnight prayers and learn to wake up at midnight to pray. She was possessed not with the Holy Spirit, but rather with an evil spirit. He did not only believe but invited the whole of his family to believe. Loved this post and look forward to more! When we are able to admit our weaknesses, we can exploit them for the glory of God, show how Christ is superior in and through our weaknesses, get rid of the idols of approval and affirmation, and we can see that we work best when we let God be the strength in our weaknesses. But when the men started sleeping and did not do their work of being vigilant, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. Any deadly attacks against my destiny, backfire, in the name of Jesus. We can worship and witness in any situation because God is sovereign over every circumstance. The text for this lesson is Acts 16:1634. I need to define some terms here. Destinies of man are shaped and interrupted at MIDNIGHT. I think that we like to promote ourselves as being strong, confident, and assured of ourselves. This scripture is very revealing. that he and everyone else needed to be cared for by a God who looks after His followers as He did Paul and Silas. The enemys mode of operation is usually to shoot their evil arrows while their victim is asleep. Mandela drafted in his autobiography while jailed in the notorious maximum security prison of Robben Island, where, from 1964, he spent 18 of the 27 years he was jailed by the Nationalist Party for his part in fighting for racial equality and the eradication of apartheid. This COVID season has been one of the worst times. It wasnt the earthquake. I love the moments in this passage as each had something happen with an immediate effect, showing the power of prayer. Great spiritual transactions happens at MIDNIGHT. Sign up to receive notifications about the Seeds of Faith blog. Faith is the heavenly substance that moves Gods hand into action. But when we look back to the circumstances of Paul and Silass imprisonment, how they were kept together, how they were seeing and witnessing, how God brought the earthquake, how God caused the jailer to come and talk to them, and how Paul and Silas were bold in this situation, whatever happened, Gods hand was all over it. Or the victim is killed out rightly. Through the witness of Paul and Silas to the Philippian jailer and his family, the kingdom of God grew. He knows the gospel. Do you know why? Find every single opportunity, every place that you can, to proclaim and share the good news. PRAISE AND WORSHIP. Acts 16:25 - "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." Romans 12:12 - "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Quick Links: The judges in the city ordered that Paul and Silas be put in prison, in the most secure part of the prison, in the dungeon, and kept even more secure by locking them in stocks. MIDNIGHT PRAYER is a time of transition, from one day to another. 1.Prayer requires faith And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.. That also means that we admit all of our weaknesses in our life. How did Paul and Silas get their freedom? Although the demon spoke truth about them preaching salvation, Paul could not mix evil with truth by accepting the demons word. This will be the outcome for all of us regardless of what kind of prison or situation we are in when the Spirit strengthens our inner man so that our hearts and minds are preserved in Christ Jesus. 7). Find more resources and videos here. 27When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped. niv). She was demon-possessed, and the spirit that controlled her enabled her to foretell the . They wanted to kill them but out of fear, they did not. And when I say that God is sovereign, I mean that he has absolute power, control, and authority to govern it and to use it for His glory. It so happened that she began following Paul and his companion. Earn up to 5x points when you use your eBay Mastercard. Note, God values midnight prayers more than anything else. Even as a truly born again Christian, you need to begin your prayers with confession of your menial sins, the sins of omission and commission, deep yourself in the blood of Jesus against counter attacks from the kingdom of darkness. Do you say, I wish I arise but Ill be tired? This was a miscarriage of justice and they were treated shamefully. Jesus had previously granted power for His disciples to cast out demons and here they failed. On the way to the place of prayer, a slave girl confronted 6 them. But thats honestly how I felt during this time. I also mean that we need to not only sing when were at church. Please call: +2348099828623. As you turn there, Im going to give you a little bit of the backstory. Note, there are some Christians who are running up and down looking for prophets or visioners to pray for them, not knowing that the Key of solution to their problems is in their hands consistent MIDNIGHT PRAYER WARFARE wins it! Silas was one of 15 players with 10,000 points and rebounds after he played his final NBA season in 1980. They will flee for their lives. Fire of Elijah, possess me by fire, in Jesus name, Any power assigned to kill me this year, you shall kill yourself, in Jesus name. Your email address will not be published. He brought Paul and Silas out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So whatever Paul and Silas were praying and singing, they were communicating the gospel truth. Matthew 13:24,25. My focus. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and sing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. He opened the doors to the cells, but no prisoner escaped. (Ps: 119:62) If I dont tell you this and you jump into praying in the midnight because it is in the Bible, you will begin to receive serious attacks that you never imagine in your life. Prayer is approaching God's throne. Please support us by disabling these ads blocker. Back to Paul in jail, when he focused on God through prayer and praise. Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyones chains were loosed. Midnight is the time people are most vulnerable to spiritual attacks. Proper acknowledgment include, but not limited to (a) Proper referencing in the case of usage in research, magazine, sermons, (b) FAIR USE in the case of re-publication on online media or offline. Hannah pleaded for a son and received Samuel. We can see the outcome of it all. She did this day after day, and at first, Paul allowed it to happen. Then he escorted them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?, So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household.. To . Early in the morning, the Roman Officials ordered Paul and Silas to be released. Were going to see how they were able to sing in a worst-case scenario. Paul who continually relied on God, had faith to free the woman from the demon and at that moment she was free. Hes been adopted into Gods family. The more I think about it, the more I see that when Paul and Silas were in prison, I dont think that the earthquake was the main miracle in that situation. He wrote 13 out of the 27 books in the New Testament, helping us understand more on how to live God-centred lives. Below is a transcript of the microtalk. I enjoyed your perspective! If you are not receiving something good at midnight, then chance are high that there are evil changes happen against you at MIDNIGHT. I want us to look at the big picture. While in prison, God visited and liberated them in a way beyond human understanding. Paul and Silas had just been stripped, beaten with rods, imprisoned, and put in chains. Might God, the wondrous God. The jailer, feeling helpless and hopeless, drew his sword to kill himself. Theres so much on prayer we can talk about; Im going to focus on the passage Acts 16:16-34 where Ive picked 3 key points. They said, You know what, there are different avenues for us to explore here in prison. And no matter what situation you find yourself in, you can do the same. Paul and Silas showed to the prisoners that they have a living God, and they are true disciples of God and through that act, they won more souls to the Kingdom of God because the jailer and his whole family were converted and the prisoners too. It is sad but true that there are so many Christians that are full of sleeps. Why did Paul and Silas decide to stay there, after the earthquake? Support Grant's Newsletter. Paul seems to return to the place of prayer just as he would have the synagogue, had there been one. faithful God responded to their praise by shaking. In our effort to protect our intellectual properties, we may report your website, Youtube to Google without prior notice and your website or contents will be removed from Search Engines and you may receive a strike. All from witnessing Paul and Silas in jail, living faithful lives to God through their prayer and praise. He converts the heart to trust in God by grace and grants the ability to live godly lives here in this world and in heaven for eternity. About midnight, God released their chains and the chains of all the prisoners. That is why if a Christian has no spiritual stamina and begins to pray in the midnight, he or she will begin to have serious problems with powers of darkness. Look at Paul and Silas when they are in prison. Psalmist declares in Psalm 119:62: At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.. Love the moments in this passage as each had something happen with an evil spirit prison because they were shamefully... Here they failed doors to the Philippian jailer and his family, the kingdom of God grew her... This upset her owners accused Paul and Silas had just been stripped, beaten with rods imprisoned! People are most vulnerable to spiritual attacks are from 12am -3am Jesus had previously granted power for his to! 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