Deliverance for Paul & Silas
At Philippi, once when Paul & his companions were going to the place of prayer, they were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and his companions, shouting, " These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
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. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole family.
 PRAYER BRINGS DELIVERANCE
“He put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 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.” Acts 16:24-26 (NKJV)
Paul and Silas found themselves in a rather dismal situation. Having done the right thing – setting a slave girl free from a demonic spirit, they had been beaten with rods, whipped and thrown into prison. Apart from the aching and stinging pains on their bodies, some scholars suggest that their cell may have been filled with city sewerage up to their breasts and the reek of dead bodies, open wounds and infection would have pervaded every part of their environment. I daresay many people in the same situation would begin to whine and complain to one another and
even to God. Since there were two of them in the same cell this would definitely have been the easy thing to do! Most people would start by telling their story about how badly they were mistreated, telling the intimate details of how they did the right thing and now they end up in all sorts of strife and trouble. They may bad-mouth the magistrates, abuse the jail guards and sit down and sulk about their misfortunes. But Paul and Silas were of a different spirit. At the midnight hour, metaphorically their darkest moment, they prayed out-aloud and sang hymns as the other prisoners listened – and probably shouted threats and abuse from the other cells. As they prayed and sang, suddenly a great earthquake shook the doors open and loosed the chains of every prisoner, but none were harmed – a great miracle indeed! This was no coincidence. The power of prayer wrought a series of great miracles. It is likely that many of the other prisoners received Christ into their lives that night, although it is not stated in the scriptures. None of them ran for the exit, a fact that Paul and Silas would most likely have capitalized on very quickly!! We are told that the jailer and his family were all saved – without any effort! In fact the jailer himself asked for Paul and Silas to lead him to Christ. Their entire family was baptized. And of course, Paul and Silas were set free the following morning. Undoubtedly, there must have been ongoing miracles from this great evening. The jailer would have changed and may have converted his jail into a place of salvation; consistently leading prisoners to their Saviour. Assuming the other prisoners were born again, they also would have changed and the entire atmosphere of the place would have changed literally overnight.
The prayers of two people effectively brought deliverance to many. When you find yourself in a difficult circumstance change the way that you behave and make each challenging situation an opportunity to turn to God. Effective, fervent prayer changes situations and brings deliverance.
DAILY PRAYER GUIDE:
- What situation in your life is holding you captive? Pray and sing and believe that God will bring His complete freedom and deliverance.
- Start to begin crying out to God for people within your church, family and friends to experience the true life-changing power of Jesus Christ in their lives, and to be set on fire to share the gospel with the people that they meet.
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