We can learn so much about having an effective marriage and family from observing Christ’s relationship with the church and the church’s relationship with Christ. In the Book of Acts, Chapter 16, we find the account of Paul and Silas being thrown into prison. It tells us in verses 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 opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
At this point of great trial and affliction, Paul and Silas chose to respond through prayer and praise! This was truly what Psalm 116:17 calls offering to God “…the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” It isn’t that God needs our praise at times of trial and despair in our life. We need to praise Him in order to get our mind off our circumstances and on God’s ability to show up on our behalf. When Paul and Silas did this, they were not only loosed from their chains and jail cell, but all of the prisoners were loosed also! This shows a very important spiritual point; our praise has the ability to not only set us free from the power of darkness, but others as well.
We find another account of the power of praise in 2 Chronicles 20:21-22:
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went our before the army and were saying: ‘Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever,’ Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
Praise is powerful! Praise breaks the strongholds of the enemy. God was able to move on His people’s behalf to defeat their enemies because they put their faith and trust in Him through praise! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will show Himself strong on our behalf just as powerfully today when we praise Him and even more so now because we have a covenant though Jesus.
When we are in a difficult situation, whether it be marriage, children, or anything else, we can praise Him because He is faithful! We can praise Him because Hid mercy endures forever! After we pray faith-filled and Holy-Spirit-led prayers over our situation, we can praise and thank Him that He is going to to take what the devil intended for our harm and turn it around for our good and His glory (see Romans 8:28). We can believe God that when the dust settles, we will still be standing and we will be all the stronger in our walk with God and in our relationships.
David was called a man after God’s own heart, and we see why in the book of Psalms. He was constantly praising God. In fact, Psalm 119:164 tells us that he praise the Lord seven times a day! If something bad happened, He praised God for being faithful and merciful. If something good happened, he praised Him for the good.
No matter what, David was always praising! He even said when he was going through a great trial of affliction, “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more” (Psalm 71:14). In other words, the devil just couldn’t shut him up. He was determined to praise no matter what! You know, you just can’t keep a man like that down. One way or another he is going to rise to the top because God inhabits the praises of His people. God will do the same thing for us. Our praise to God has the ability to completely turn a situation around. As Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.“
Praying abundant blessings over you,
Shaun & Amy
