Go! And Sing In The Storm - Acts 16:25-26 Series

Go! And Sing in the Storm - Acts 16:25–26 (NLT)

Acts 16:25–26 (NLT): “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”

Introduction: Praising in Pain

Church, have you ever been in a midnight moment?

Not just in terms of the clock, but in the sense of despair, pain, confusion—when the night feels long and hope seems out of reach?

Paul and Silas were in such a moment—but what did they do?

They didn’t complain.

They didn’t curse.

They didn’t quit.

They sang.

And God responded with a miracle.

Let’s walk through this extraordinary event and learn how to go and sing in the storm—to trust Christ even when the prison doors haven’t yet opened.

1. The Context: Faithfulness that Leads to Chains

In Acts 16, Paul receives a vision calling him to Macedonia—God was directing him to Europe for the first time.

Paul and Silas faithfully go to Philippi, meet Lydia, and minister in the city. Then they free a slave girl from demonic oppression (Acts 16:16–18). That miracle stirs trouble.

Her owners, angry at the loss of their income, falsely accuse Paul and Silas. The crowd joins the attack, and without a proper trial, they’re stripped, beaten, and imprisoned (Acts 16:19–24).

The Greek word for “prison” used in verse 24 is phylake—a holding place, often dark, damp, and miserable. Yet Paul and Silas weren’t just in a place of confinement; they were in the centre of God’s will.

Obedience to God doesn’t guarantee comfort.

Sometimes it leads directly into the storm.

But church, being in the centre of God’s will is the safest place to be—even in prison.

2 Timothy 2:9 (NLT): “And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.”

Paul later reflects from another prison. God’s Word is never bound!

R.T. Kendall: “Sometimes God allows us to be in the fire not to burn us, but to prove that He is with us in it.”

You may feel chained by circumstance today, but the power of Christ in you is unchained and unstoppable.

2. The Response: Prayer and Praise in the Dark

Acts 16:25 (NLT): “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.”

The Greek for “singing hymns” is hymneo—used in worship and adoration, especially in public praise.

Note the timing—midnight.

The darkest hour.

Their backs were bleeding.

Their feet were fastened in stocks.

Yet they worshipped.

Psalm 42:8 (NLT): “But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.”

Corrie ten Boom in Ravensbrück

Corrie and her sister Betsie sang hymns and read Scripture in a Nazi concentration camp. Surrounded by death, they brought life through worship. That is the supernatural hope Jesus gives.

Charles Stanley: “Our storms may not disappear, but our view of them changes when we praise God in the middle of them.”

I encourage you—sing your way through the storm.

You’re not singing to change your situation.

You’re singing to change your perspective.

3. The Breakthrough: Earthquake of Grace

Acts 16:26 (NLT): “Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”

“Suddenly” (aphno)—used when God acts in ways no one expects. God moves in kairos time—His divine moment. And when He does, everything changes.

Notice—every door opened and every chain fell off.

That’s not just freedom for Paul and Silas—it’s freedom for all who heard the praise.

Isaiah 61:1 (NLT): “He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”

A Pastor in Sudan

A persecuted pastor in Sudan was imprisoned for preaching Christ. He continued to sing and pray. Guards listened. One of them eventually asked, “Who is this Jesus that gives you joy in chains?” That guard became a believer.

Tim Keller: “Jesus didn’t come to simply make bad people good; He came to make dead people alive.”

Christ didn’t just come to improve your life—He came to break your chains and give you new life!

4. The Result: Salvation for the Jailor

Read Acts 16:27–34 later. The jailor is about to kill himself, fearing the prisoners have escaped. Paul stops him.

That jailor falls before them and asks:

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v.30)

And they reply:

“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…” (v.31)