Pastor Maselo Mosomane
Prayer that Shakes the Foundations of Prison
Text: Acts 16:16-26
Key Scripture verse: Acts 16:25-26
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed”
He shook the foundations in response to prayer
God acted in response to prayer. We know through the Scriptures that whenever God comes to work on earth He comes in the Person of Jesus. “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken” Acts 16:26. Jesus came down to deliver His praying servants. These men did not fight back; they prayed and God listened.
I remember what happened in Exodus 8:7-8 when God called Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. He said; “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters... so I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians” Like in the time of Israel in Egypt, God saw the beating and the wounds on the back of Paul and Silas. He heard them when they prayed and this moved Him. He says “I have come down to deliver.” When He came; the foundations of the prison were shaken. That was not all.
He opened the prison doors in response to prayer
“And immediately all the doors were opened” The building that housed the prison was shaken so vehemently that all the doors flung open to the intensity of the earthquake. Oh my friend; Jesus has arrived and He has the keys in His hand. Revelations 1:18. In three days of His death Jesus went down to hell; He faced the devil in his territory; He conquered him and took from him the keys of the doors of hell and death and gave them to us and those key are PRAYER. Prayer is the key that turns every locked door wide open. We appropriate the keys through prayer. Prayers is like sticking your hand in your spiritual pocket; pull out the key, slot it into the keyhole, turn it clock-wise, pull the door, open it and leave it open for others who believe your message to follow. Praise the Lord! Prayer opens every door the devil shuts in your face. Doors of lack, doors of sickness, doors of confusion, doors of depression, doors of financial reverses; all of these and those that I did not mention will open when we pray.
He loosed the chains that bound them in response to prayer
“And everyone’s chains were loosed” My friend, when Jesus is in the house chains refuse to hold anyone bound; they fall off the hands and feet. Prayer sets us free from every bondage of Satan. Jesus said as He read from Isaiah that day in the temple; “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me ...to proclaim liberty to the captives” Luke 4:18. Look at your hands my friend; look at your feet; there are no chains around them anymore. Can you see? Rub your wrists and stretch your arms and lift your hands up. Behold you are free! Why sit you there like you are still bound.
God sees your afflictions; none of them passes His eyes unnoticed. His eyes are open to every kind of situation and condition we might be going through right now. He says “I have seen the oppression of my people” He saw what Paul and Silas were going through and He heard them do something. He heard them pray and sing hymns. When your back is bleeding from the beating of the devil, it’s no time to cry my man; it’s time to pray. Paul and Silas knew better. They prayed and sang hymns and praised God. When these happened, God came down to deliver them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake. It shook the foundations of the prison where Paul and Silas were locked in, in chains. All the prison doors were flung open. The chains on everyone’s hands and feet were loosed. You see when Jesus comes into one’s situation; no afflicting foundation shall remain intact. No door that locked you in prison shall remain closed. No chains that kept you captive shall remain bound around your wrist and ankles. Every time He comes in response to prayer, He comes to deliver.
May we be like Paul and Silas; may we learn from their situation and shake the foundations of our prisons with prayer and praise. May we learn that the problem is not in the wounds and prison; the problem is up where clouds are gathering. Yes; the pain is in the body but the artillery that shoots ammunitions are neither in the body nor on the ground. They are up in the sky – they are in the spirit. That’s where the battle is fought and that’s where the battle must be won with prayer. Remember; a growing Christian is a praying Christian. LET US PRAY!
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