Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Friday, August 23, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 23 - Persevering Praise!

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I thank You for being with me always, just like You said You would (Matthew 28:20). ...

"The magistrates had (Paul and Silas) stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...." (Acts 16:22-25).

What a dramatic turn in the story line of Paul and Silas! They were stripped naked, publicly humiliated, beaten, shackled, and shut away in a dark dungeon. You'd expect the next sentence in the story to be something like "Then they cried out to God for mercy" or "Then they railed against their jailers and the authorities for this great injustice and cruelty" or even "Then they began to question the goodness of God and whether they had missed God's will and whether following their faith was worth the cost." But instead, we hear "Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God!"

That throws a wet blanket on the bonfire of my little pity parties. That calls out the shallowness of my faithfulness. And that puts a little perspective around my problems.

Their answer was not to whine and complain and sulk. Their answer was to worship and pray and sing, to lift up their eyes to the heavens and their voices to their God. Their voices filled that prison. And their voices moved Your heart. "Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened!" (Acts 16:26)

Praise is powerful! Worship opens the windows of heaven! Persevering through persecution shakes everything and everyone around us! By the end of it all, the jailor and all his family were saved (Acts 16:33), the authorities were confronted and humbled (Acts 16:39), and Paul and Silas were set free to carry on with their mission of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ everywhere they went! (Acts 16:40)

Lord, set things right in my spirit. Give me a perspective that perseveres through whatever persecution or problems I face with a heart that won't stop worshipping You and praising You through it all. Even when it seems like it's "about midnight" -- at the darkest moments when I've almost lost sight of any light at all, and no matter how deep in the dungeon I feel -- give me faith and hope to believe You're the God who can suddenly move in a moment. You're the God who can send an earthquake to shake up everything around me and shift my circumstances for my good and Your glory.

Remind me that I don't always know who's watching me go through it, looking to see how I'll endure it. But You're at work in it all, not wasting a moment of my sufferings, to make me more like You and bring more people into the grace of Your mercy and love (Romans 8:28-29). Persevering praise is a great principle of breakthrough prayer and a mighty "weapon of (our) warfare!" You've entrusted to us (2 Corinthians 10:4) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you persevere in praise through whatever problems you're facing and experience breakthrough in your prayers, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Preaching in Pakistan This Saturday.

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend (Saturday morning in Texas/Saturday night in Pakistan). If the weather permits, I will be preaching another one of our outdoor evangelistic meetings in Pakistan through our Skype Internet Ministry. Each month, I am preaching in different villages around Lahore, Pakistan in the Punjab Region. Through our team there with Pastor Fazal and Brother Suleman, we set up a tent or facility with a big screen, projector, interpreter, and prayer team. Thank you to all my friends who pray for us and support us to make this ministry possible each month! God bless you!

"And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come!" (Matthew 24:14)

My Book on Inner Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry -- Free to Be Like Jesus!