Are you in a bad situation? Do you feel there is no way out? If so, its time to change your negative perspective into a positive one. Lift your hands toward the sky and start singing praises to God. You may be feeling you have nothing to praise God about because you are so miserable. That may be true, but why not try praising God for just who He is. God is still God no matter what we are going through. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 3:18. We should praise Him when we’re feeling up and especially if we’re feeling down! Praising God in the worst of times proves that we know who He is, and what He can do. We must not allow our perspective of God to change according to our circumstances. Know that God is the Most High no matter what your life looks like. Keeping that perspective is powerful! Lets look at what happened to Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:23-24:
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks
Picture their situation for a moment. Physically beaten, thrown in a prison and chained up. That’s a pretty bad situation. If anyone had a reason to say there is no way out, Paul and Silas sure did. Now lets take a look at how they approach their bad situation.
Acts 16:25:
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
First they prayed. Praying is identifying a problem to God. So after they told God their problem they handed it over to Him and began to sing. In the midst of all their turmoil they sang! They could’ve easily said, "Since there’s no way out of our situation we may as well give up." But instead they decided to sing. And, it wasn’t just any singing either. They sang praises to God! They knew who their God was. They didn’t let their situation change their perspective of God. Lets read on to see what happens next.
Acts 16:26:
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
When they sang those praises to God He heard them and set them free.
God hears ours prayers. God hears ours praises. Prayer followed with praise is positive, powerful, and proves we know who He is. It shows our faith in Him. If Paul and Silas had simply said there’s no way out they would’ve stayed there. Taking that negative approach toward our problems causes us to stay where we are. Negative reactions can also give place to the devil. The word of God tells us not to give place to the devil, Ephesians 4:27.
You can’t pray "God get me out of this" and then keep talking about how horrible everything is. When Paul and Silas prayed they probably prayed something like this: "Deliver us from the hand of the wicked ones dear Lord" and then they praised His holy name. I am sure they didn’t pray and then talk back and forth about how horrible everything was. Most certainly they allowed their conversation to glorify God. They prayed and then praised God. They reacted positively to their situation.
We can train ourselves to react positively to our situations as well. For example, when a problem arises, many of us find ourselves saying "This is a bad situation, there’s no way out." By saying, there’s no way out is basically saying God can’t do anything about our situation. As children of God we need to know who our God is and what He can do for us. The bible tells us in Matthew 19:26 that with God all things are possible and in Romans 8:28 all things work together for the good for those who love Him.
Training our thoughts to line up with God’s word is vital. His Word helps us keep the positive attitude we need to handle any bad situations that may arise. You may wonder, how can I think positively about what I’m facing? If you can think negatively then you can think positively. Now when I say, think positive, I don’t mean for you to go around saying there’s nothing wrong and everything is good; when clearly that’s not the truth. That’s not what positive thinking is. Positive thinking is knowing that, no matter what; God will bring you out.
Change your thoughts and speech to get in line with God’s Word. Instead of feeling there’s no way out" Gear your thinking more toward this: "This is a bad situation God, but you are in control. All things are possible with you and everything works together for my good. Bring forth the good, dear Lord". After you’ve said that, praise Him! It may take awhile to train yourself to be positive and get in line with God’s word, but eventually it will become a habit.
When I feel negative thoughts creeping into my mind I quote God’s Word. Anytime the words, can’t, never, impossible, no way out, or anything remotely negative pops into my mind, I immediately start quoting scriptures. I quote 2nd Corinthians 10:5: "Casting down all imaginations and every high thing that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought unto the obedience of Christ". And James 4:7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you". I wrote these scriptures down and quoted them until I could remember them on my own. Sometimes you have to keep resisting those doubting thoughts, but over time, they do flee.
The bottom line is this: We need to know who our God is. We need to stop thinking God is our "magic genie" only on the throne to answer our prayers. He is on the throne because He is the King. And that’s why we are to praise Him. When we begin praising God we will find a way out of our situation, just as Paul and Silas found a way out of theirs.
If you are feeling so low in spirit you can’t seem to praise God, read the book of Psalms. There are so many great chapters I know there is one that will identify with your situation.
Before I close, I want us to pray together. Dear Father God in the name of Jesus. You have complete control of my life. You are the Most-High God. Forgive me for doubting. I give you my situation. Turn it around Lord. Bring to me the good that is to come from this. I thank you for your delivering word. I praise you for all that you’ve done and all that you are going to do. I praise you for who you are! In the name of Jesus I pray amen.
Now that you’ve made your situation known to God, lets close praising God together! Let’s quote Psalm 9:1&2. "I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart! I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praises to thy name. O thou Most High.
