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Paul and Silas Opened the Prison Doors by Prayer and Praise

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(Acts 16:25-26)

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.

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The Apostle Paul went to many places to tell about Jesus.
God led Paul to a place named Philippi.

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This time, a man named Silas also went together with Paul.
Paul went to a river and told the gospel to the women gathered in that place.
Among them, God opened the heart of a woman named Lydia.

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All the family members of Lydia accepted and believed Jesus and were baptized.
Not only that, but Lydia also served Paul and Silas by letting them stay at her house.

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One day, Paul and Silas were looking for a place to pray.
On the way, they met one slave girl who had an evil spirit.
This slave girl made money for her owners by telling the future.

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This slave girl with the evil spirit followed Paul and Silas and shouted.
"They are servants of the Most High God. They are telling the way to be saved."
This slave girl with the evil spirit was humiliating and making fun of Paul and Silas.

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For days, whenever this slave girl met Paul and Silas, she shouted the same thing and troubled them. Paul was being patient but finally, he decided to drive away the spirit from the slave girl. Paul loudly shouted to the spirit that was inside of the slave girl."I command you in the name of Jesus Christ. Come out from the girl."

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Right after Paul commanded, the spirit came out from the slave girl.
The noisy slave girl was healed. Healing the girl with the evil spirit was a very good thing but this became a big problem.

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The owners of the slave girl got very angry because they could not get money through her anymore. The slave girl have been making money for her owners by telling the future but since, she could not tell the future anymore, the owners became very angry. They caught and brought Paul and Silas to the officials in the marketplace.

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"These people are telling unlawful things which we as, Romans, cannot even accept and practice." Other people around them also shouted at Paul and Silas and agreed to the owners of the slave girl.

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Upon hearing that, the Roman officials tore the clothes of Paul and Silas.
Then, they started hitting Paul and Silas.
Paul and Silas did not do anything wrong but they got punished.

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They had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison.
They fastened their feet in the stocks.

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But Paul and Silas did not get sad or disappointed by that. Instead, they prayed to God in the prison. Then, they sang praises to God. They praised in a very loud voice so that the other prisoners could also hear them.

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When Paul and Silas prayed and praised God, a very strong earthquake happened and it shook the prison. The prison door opened. All the chains that bound Paul and Silas broke. It was a miracle.

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Paul and Silas did a good thing of healing the slave girl with the evil spirit but because of that, they experienced the great difficulty of going to prison. But they still believed that God knows all the truth. They did not loose their faith and showed their brave faith by praying and praising in the prison.

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If you have believed in Jesus and have become a child of God, then you should have faith of doing like Paul and Silas even though you meet difficult problems after doing good things.  No matter how difficult the situation is, believe that God will protect you until the end. Don't forget that a truly faithful person is someone who believes in the protection of God until the end and is someone who asks for God's help through prayers and praise.