The Key of Praise Unlocks The Prison Door

An interesting thing happened the other day as I was reading my devotions, the Psalms synced up with the New Testament. This happens every now and then, but this particular topic seemed relevant for this day.

Psalm 142:7, David is crying out to the Lord as his enemies were pursuing him. He was afraid that his days were numbered and even worse, no one cared. In verse 7 he says, "Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me." His fear has locked him away in a prison.

Just the other night, I was meeting with some women from church and we were discussing the future of our women's ministry. We all agreed that most women suffer from fear. Fear comes in many shapes and sizes. Whether its fear of death, or loss of husband, children, or any family member, sickness, financial ruin are just a few of the "fears" that put us into prison, so to speak.

This prison though, isn't only fear. This prison is depression, anxiety, hopelessness, being unsuccessful, unmet expectations, unmet goals, etc. Each one of us can be locked away in our own prison and we will forever wonder how we got there. For the common criminal it is because he or she disobeyed the law and got caught. But as "follower of Jesus" this happens without us even noticing the cinder block walls popping up or when the iron bars shut behind us.

I can remember back a few years ago when Jeff and I had hit a very hard place in planting our church. I was taking in every message from anyone on television who could give me some answers to where we were. I was frustrated with God because we had only done what He had asked us to do. I thought if you obeyed God that everything should work out right, right? Instead, it was a teaching moment for me.

As I was on my way to the grocery store one morning (grocery shopping seemed to be an anxiety for me as money was more like manna, a daily provision) I began to cry. I sat at the stop sign wondering how we got "here" and recalling a message that I had heard T.D. Jakes say "God's grace is sufficient for me." In my heart I thought, that's easy for him to say because he has a successful church and he doesn't have to worry about making sure there is food on his table or his bills get paid. He's got book sales. Of course he can say "God's grace is sufficient for him." But it was then that I sat with my hands on the steering wheel and my head buried in my hands and tears streaming that I said, "God how will grace pay my bills and feed and clothe my family?" Then I lifted my head and said, "I don't know, but Heavenly Father, Your grace IS sufficient for me." I heard God say, "Jayme, just praise me." I had allowed my circumstances to shackle me into my own prison. Since then, I've heard T.D. Jakes testimony and he did go through bad times. He had a car repossessed and the electricity turned off, etc.

Now, back to my devotions. After I had read the Psalms I turned to the New Testament reading for that day. I was in Acts. To my surprise I was in Acts 16 and the verses in that passage that related to the Psalms were verses 23-26. It reads, "And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 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." What a sight that must have been. Although I'm not sure about the other prisoners going free, if you know what I mean. It was Paul and Silas' praise that unlocked those prison doors and not just the outside doors, but the inner prison doors, to their freedom. We have no idea the power praise brings to our circumstances and situations.

So many of us children of God are locked away in our own prisons. I see more people struggle with depression, which in itself is a prison. A prison in your own home, to your own bed. Psalm 149:1,3-5 says, "Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. 4 For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. 5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds." Instead, praise is supposed to imprison the enemy. Verse 6-9 says, "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints."

In Psalm 142, David asked God to free him first so he could praise God. Paul and Silas praised God before they were freed. I wonder if we spent more time praising God rather than worshiping our "problems" we would see more healing and power in the body of Christ. We'd see more salvations take place because we would truly be free and non-believers would notice. What was interesting is that Paul and Silas' praise freed those around them as well. We Christians seem to have more issues than some of the non-Christians. God's grace is more than enough for us. All we have to do is just praise Him. It would be amazing to see how much freedom we'd begin to see in peoples lives.

By the way, I'm not writing this because I have this down, I'm writing this because I need to remind myself of this too. Here is an acrostic to help me and you remember what praise stands for:
Promises Reminded Adoring In Song Everyday!