“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!”

Acts of the Apostles 16:25-26 NLT

Happy Monday. Haven’t done a Monday motivation in a while, but this one hit me this morning. I was listening to these verses this morning when these two hit me in a very different way.

A few days ago the weather was warmer and I found myself able to be outside before it was dark so I went to my favorite spot in a nearby park to just breathe and talk to God. With it getting darker earlier it is harder for me to do this so it had been awhile. Don’t get me wrong, I know you can talk to God anywhere and believe me I do. But there is something special and different about being in His creation walking and talking with him. Especially this time of year when very few people are around. I can cry, pour my heart out to Him, throw rocks, and sit in silence watching the sunset over the water. It’s a form of therapy for me. But like therapy it can stir up emotions I haven’t had time to process. And this day was definitely one of those. And while it was needed it’s easy for the enemy to sneak in with his lies when my heart is fragile and the tears are flowing. So the battle started. And the enemy was hitting me hard and I could feel depression setting in thick.

But I kept wrestling it out with God. Kept pouring my heart out with Him. And sent a text for prayer to a friend. She then reminded me the power of praising God in the middle of the hopeless moments. In the middle of the trials and the heartbreak. This wasn’t new as I’ve clung to music to help me through tough times for years, but sometimes in the battle we need a reminder.

So I turned on the worship music and began to sing my heart out to my Heavenly Abba. And it’s amazing the peace and joy that rose up in me. While I didn’t go from depressed to happy. There was a peace and confidence knowing that God was with me and going before me. He was fighting the lies there with me. Singing truth over me as I praised Him.

The next time you find yourself in a trial or battling difficult emotions and lies or whatever. Try taking time to just praise Him in the middle. Even if it’s hard. Even if you didn’t feel it. It doesn’t say that they felt it or not. It just says they prayed and sang. Let God sing over you (“…He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17 NLT) as you sing praises to Him.