Acts 16:25-40
Reflect
The passage for today finds us right in the middle of a story. Verse 25 says, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” If we backpedal a bit, we find out that Paul commanded a Spirit to come out of a female slave, her owners were mad about it, so they had Paul and Silas arrested. Paul and Silas were then stripped and beaten with rods and thrown into prison.
If I’m honest, and that was me in the situation, I don’t think my first response would be to sing hymns to God. I probably would feel sorry for myself first, and then wonder where God was in all of this. But despite the bodily pain they were going through and facing an uncertain future, they prayed and praised God. My favourite part of this passage is that “the other prisoners were listening to them.” Their joy and focus on God in the middle of their suffering had an audience. Ours does, too.
Apply
What does it look like to pray to and praise God in the middle of our suffering?
Erin Gibbard
Pray
- Pray for Pastor Dan, our Lead Team Pastor and his family.
- Pray for our Young Adults Pastor, Nathanael Trinh, his ministry, and his family.
- Pray for our Congregational Life Pastor, Melissa Chaffee and her family.
- Pray for our church Groups Assistant, Noah Okken.
- Pray for our Young Adults Ministry Assistant, Ethan Okken.
- Pray that God’s Spirit would work powerfully and effectively in all the various ministry groups in our church this week.