Our Scripture reading today is Acts 16:22-25.
Verse 25, "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them."
The opposition that Paul and Silas faced would have caused most Christians to either quit preaching the Gospel or sit in jail wondering where is God in all of this. Instead, we see exactly what their strong faith in Jesus Christ led them to do. How could someone pray and sing praises to God after experiencing a beating for following His will? How is this possible?
The key to this Bible event is to whom did Paul and Silas draw their attention. If they would have paid close attention to the wounds that the beating caused, I doubt they would be praying and singing. There is no doubt they were walking closely with their Heavenly Father. HE was their primary cause for preaching the Gospel. I would also like to draw our attention to the phrase, "and the prisoners heard them." Everywhere these two went, they were attentive to the people around them. In this case, the prisoners heard their powerful testimony in prayer and song. It would be these same prisoners that would stay in their cells when an earthquake occurs. (Verse 28) It is quite possible that the testimony of Paul and Silas contributed to the other prisoners not leaving when their prison doors opened. If you follow the events, you will see that this gave Paul and Silas the opportunity to preach the Gospel to the jailor and his entire family got saved and baptized!
We just never know who is watching us as we go through a trying time. It is an excellent time for us to pray and sing more for His glory!