Paul and Silas were sleepy and exhausted in the prison, so how could they worship God under such circumstance? They must have been prompted, or even driven, by God's Spirit, who called them to worship Him. Worship is not just an expression of emotions, but it's a manifestation of complete surrender. Paul and Silas obeyed God's calling and surrendered both emotionally and rationally. Logically speaking, it was irrationally to be worshipping at that time, but Paul and Silas completely surrendered and sang in praise and thanksgiving out of their spirit and truth, and thus all the prisoners listened attentively. Perhaps it was because the heaven is God's throne and the earth is God's stool, so when God heard such beautiful song of praise and His foot couldn't help but to tap on the floor, the earth and the foundation of the prison were shaken, and all the doors opened.
Actually, the truth miracle in this incident was that after the prison doors were opened and all chains came lose, no prisoner actually escaped. If you were a prisoner at the time, you must have thought that it was great opportunity to escape. When the prison guard woke up and saw that all the prison doors were opened, he was going to kill himself because he thought all prisoners must have escaped; Paul, however, assured he was fine because no one actually escaped. The prisoners could have escaped but didn't because God's presence was among them; it brought such tremendous power that all prisoners felt His presence, became fearful of God and laid down before Him. Even the prison guard wanted to come before God to be saved. When God's presence is manifested, people's lives are changed, and that's why we want to praise and worship, because worship brings out the presence and sovereignty of God among us.
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