Winning the Battle with Praise
Selected Scriptures
Acts 16:22 (NIV)
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
Acts 16:23 (NIV)
After they had been severely flogged,
Acts 16:23–24 (NIV)
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.
Acts 16:25 (NIV)
About midnight
1st Praise Changes You
Acts 16:25 (NIV)
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God....
1. Praise will free you from fear
Psalm 34:3–4 (NIV)
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
2. Praise gives joy in the midst of trouble
Psalm 34:5 (NIV)
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy.
3. Praise brings God's help to deliver you from your troubles
Psalm 34:6 (NLT)
In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles.
2nd Praise Changes Your Situation
Acts 16:25 (NIV)
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.
Acts 16:25–26 (NIV)
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 everyone’s chains came loose.
3rd Praise Changes Other People
Acts 16:25 (NIV)
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.
Acts 16:27–30 (NIV)
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?"
Acts 16:31–34 (NIV)
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.
4th Praise Defeats the Enemy
Psalm 68:1–4 (NLT)
Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives. Blow them away like smoke. Melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God. But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy. Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD—rejoice in his presence!
Isaiah 30:31–32 (NIV)
The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his scepter he will strike them down. Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
2 Chronicles 20:22 (NLT)
At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.
2 Chronicles 20:22 (NIV)
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
Psalm 149:3–9 (NIV)
Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD.
