Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
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 a 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 the 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 household. 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.
– Acts 16:22-34
Devotion
While in Philippi, Paul commanded an evil spirit to leave a slave girl that had been following them. As a result of this, the owners of the slave girl stirred up trouble and had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison. In a miraculous way, God caused an earthquake to shake the foundations of the prison and open all the doors and loose all the chains. The jailer, fearful that all the prisoners had escaped, started to take his own life. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Paul interrupts his attempt and insures him that all the prisoners were still in their cells. This opened the door for Paul to share the Good News of Jesus with the jailer and his family. In the end, the jailer and his entire household came to faith in Christ. What certain men intended for evil, God used for good!
The Big Question
Do you have a hard time seeing “the good” in bad or difficult circumstances? Are you able to trust in God’s character, whose ways you may not understand at the time? Paul and Silas were praying and worshipping the Lord. Worship – How does your love for Jesus show? Prayer – What are you talking to God about?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting on what God revealed to you today.