On the Way to Pray

On the way to pray…
A slave girl possessed with a spirit…
Met them.
She made money for her masters by fortune-telling.
She followed Paul and Silas.
She cried out, saying…
“These men are the servants of the Most-High God!
They proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
She did this for many days.

Paul, greatly annoyed, said to the spirit…
“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ…
Come out of her.”
He came out that very hour.

Her masters saw their hope of profit was gone.
So, they seized Paul and Silas.
They dragged them to the authorities.

They said to the magistrates…
“These Jewish men greatly trouble our city.
They teach illegal customs for Romans to observe.”

A mob was incited against Paul and Silas.
The magistrates had them beaten with rods.
They imprisoned them.
They commanded the jailer, “Keep them securely.”
He put them into the inner prison.
He locked their feet in the stocks.

At midnight Paul and Silas…
Prayed and sang hymns to God.
Prisoners were listening to them.

Suddenly! A great earthquake!
The prison shook.
All doors opened.
All chains were loose.
The jailer awakes.
“My have prisoners escaped.”

He draws his sword.
About to kill himself…
Paul shouts…
“Don’t harm yourself!
We are all here.”

The jailer falls before Paul and Silas.
He asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You and your household will be saved.”

They spoke God’s word to all who were in his house.
He treated their wounds.
They baptized him and his family.
He fed them at his house with great joy.
He and his entire family believed in God.

The magistrates said, “Let those men go.”
The jailer said to Paul, “Go in peace.”
Paul replied, “They beat us openly…
Romans citizens!
They threw us into prison.
Do they now release us secretly?
No indeed!
Let them release us.”

The magistrates were afraid…
Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
They pleaded with them to leave the city.
Paul and Silas departed to Lydia’s house.
They encouraged the Christians there…
They departed. [1]

The above story comprises 24 out of 31,102 verses in the Bible. Yet, this one small section testifies of many lives being impacted by God. Apostles, a slave girl, businessmen, government leaders, a jailer and his family, prisoners, and Christians meeting in the home of Lydia all had a story to tell after this day. Any day that begins with prayer in the Name of Jesus can develop into a story that lasts for generations to come.

[1] Acts 16:16-40 in poetic form.