Thursday, October 7, 2010 — IDOK Devotion
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Acts 16: 22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (KJV)
And the prisoners heard them. James, our Minister of Music at Satsuma First Baptist, read this text to us tonight (Wednesday). And when I heard, ‘and the prisoners heard them’, I knew I had heard the makings of an IDOK lesson.
We are well familiar with this account, are we not? Paul and Silas had been preaching in the Name of JESUS and some folks didn’t like it so they had them beaten and then confined them to prison. If you read on you will see and perhaps you recall they were cast into the inner prison without medical attention — their backs were raw and bleeding (verse 33)!
Picture this with me. Paul and Silas have been beaten and they have the stripes to prove it, their feet are in stocks, they are in a dark prison cell with no window and most likely little to no light (verse 29) and what do they do? They pray and praise!
And the prisoners heard them.
Here’s the point. Even though thus far we are not beaten with many stripes, nor have we been cast into prison and our feet placed in stocks for ministering in the Name of JESUS, we do have varying degrees of trouble and you know what — ‘the prisoners are listening’! People bound in the prison of sin – bound for hell, are watching and listening to the way we handle our troubles and sorrows. They need us to pray and praise. For if we pray and praise, perhaps they like the Philippian Jailer will say yes to JESUS and be set free!
Do you think Paul and Silas thought the salvations of the Jailer and his family were worth a beating? I do. But you know that’s not the reason they prayed and praised — they prayed and praised because JESUS IS WORTH IT! At least He was/is to them . . . . Is He to us? Will we pray and praise next time some one pulls out in front of us on the four lane? What does it say about us, if we fuss and fume instead of pray and praise?
ABBA, thank You for this Word; please don’t let us forget it. HOLY SPIRIT, I pray You will put a watch over our mouths and when fussing and fuming and blaming and complaining words start forming in our minds, quickly remind us to pray and praise. Amen and amen in JESUS NAME.
Holy hugs, kt
