Troubled? Try Prayer and Praise

Have you ever had a sleepless night where your troubled heart cried
out to God? I have. Over and over again, my head and heart pleaded: "God, help."



I'm
grateful the Holy Spirit takes such simplistic requests--those times
when we don't know how to pray--and presents them to God with groans
(Romans 8:26).



At other times of trouble, my only course of action
seems to be praise. These moments tend to catch me by surprise. How can
I sing praises to God when I'm hurting? My only explanation is
something deep within me--something deeper than my hurt and
concern--God's very presence, singing comfort to my soul.



The
Bible story of Paul and Silas rebuking the demon-possessed slave girl is
one of my favorites. Once her powers are gone, the woman's owners exact
their revenge on Paul and Silas with a savage beating and imprisonment.



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. ~Acts 16:25-26 (NIV)



That same God-power to
overcome trouble is ours today. When we face trouble so dark and deep
that we don't know how to pray, when we've been beaten and imprisoned
for doing good, turn to God in prayer and praise. Only then can the
chains of trouble that bind us be loosed.