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Midnight Praise

 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.” 

 Our secret weapon is the sacrifice of praise. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” A sacrifice of praise is costly praise. It is a heartfelt praise offered from a heart filled with gratitude for the goodness and mercy of God. The sacrifice of praise will create confusion in the enemy’s camp.

Midnight praise is breakthrough praise. Midnight begins the third watch of the night. It begins at 12 am and continues to 3 am.  It is a time of heightened spiritual activity.  Peter denied the Lord three times during this watch. It was at midnight that the death angel passed through Egypt striking all the firstborn of the land. Exodus 12:29-30 says, “And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”

Paul and Silas are imprisoned unjustly for casting a demon of divination out of a young girl who was disrupting their meetings. The word “divination” can be translated as “python.” This spirit of python is a manifestation of witchcraft. The enemy is a counterfeiter. He seeks to use divination as a substitute for true biblical prophecy. As believers we can hear God’s voice and be led by the Spirit.

Paul and Silas were put into the inner prison and their feet were locked in stocks. Their only crime was preaching the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. How did they respond to this injustice? Acts 16:15 says, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” 

 Acts 16:16 records the results of Paul and Silas’ midnight praise, “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.”  God’s power is released when we pray, worship and give praise to God at midnight. Psalms 119:61– 62 says, “The cords of the wicked have bound me, But I have not forgotten Your law. At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.”

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