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Did praise alone deliver Paul and Silas?


Many times, when we discuss the power of praise and how potent a weapon it is to the believer, we fail to recognize that praise itself doesn’t stand alone. We often discuss praise as a last card, it is almost as though when you have done everything you can; prayed and fasted, and you still don’t get any result, then you should switch to praise, and you will automatically get your desired result. We know well enough that praise is a powerful weapon, but how does it work really?

One of the scriptures that really reinforces the position of praise is the story of Paul and Silas in Acts of Apostles 16. These men of God had been locked up in jail, and the scripture records that they sang praises to God at midnight, and other prisoners heard them. Then there was an earthquake that shattered the prison, and they were loosed from their bounds, even though they did not make their escape from prison. As we read that story in the bible, we understand that praise definitely played a vital role in the experience of these men of God, but the question is, was it only praise that got them such result?

There are several believers who can testify to the power of praise in securing their breakthrough, but there are many others who have spent all night in praise, but seem to have gotten nothing. When you think of the later set of believers, you wonder if God is partial or if praise just works as a fluke. The answer lies right before us in this same story of Paul and Silas. As you read on in that text, you will find something really interesting that definitely worked for the deliverance of these men other than their praise – it was the largeness of their hearts. They had just been miraculously delivered from jail but they made no attempt to escape, neither did they allow the jailer to slay himself. It may not appear as a big deal, but it definitely is. These men were filled with love even for the persons that had jailed them, they had no bitterness in their heart against the jailer, neither did they desire his death. It is this heart of love towards others that got the attention of heaven in the first place, not just their praise alone. Praise in such a situation as these men found themselves is an act of faith, and faith works through love according to Gal. 5:6. So when you try to replicate such feat without your love walk in place, you will fall flat on your face. If you praise all night long without walking in love towards others, you will not get the kind of experience that Paul and Silas got.


I am sure there are many people who have attempted to reproduce same result, but just couldn’t, it is not as if God is partial, it is that they needed a heart check. The answer does not lie in the quantity of time spent in praise, but in the quality of the praise, and the quality of the praise is dependent upon the condition of your heart. Some believers will tell you how they have prayed, fasted, and praised, but seen no results, the issue is not with God, neither is it with any of the activities they engaged in, it is a matter of the heart. You see, if God was to answer you just based on the length of your praise or prayers, it would mean that you got your result by effort contrary to the message of grace. If you put your heart right, and ensure that your love walk towards God and towards others is in place, then you will praise, and you will see heaven open on your behalf, and the earth will quake for your testimony to come forth.



Shalom!



N.B
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