Book summary “Prison to Praise”: summary

Introduction

You often face painful circumstances, overwhelming fear, and a deep frustration that your efforts cannot fix your life. When problems multiply, you might wonder how to escape the traps of your own making or find peace in a hostile world.

Merlin R. Carothers shares his dramatic journey from a rebellious youth and criminal offender to a United States Army chaplain and spiritual teacher.

Giving thanks and praising God in every difficult circumstance unleashes divine power to transform problems and heal lives.

This book explores how rebellion leads to bondage, how spiritual surrender brings new life, and how the surprising command to praise God in all things functions as a spiritual key. You will discover practical ways to stop fighting your trials and start using praise as a weapon.

You may wonder:

• How can you praise God when you feel angry and hurt?
• What happens when you stop resisting your problems?
• How does obedience change your daily conflicts?

1. Rebellion and Criminal Adventures

A deeply rooted bitterness and independence can drive a person into a lifetime of rebellion, crime, and military conflict.

From Tragedy to Defiance

Following the sudden death of his father when he was 12 years old, Merlin R. Carothers turned in fury against God. You might understand this bitter response to personal loss, which led to a fierce determination to make your own way through life. This attitude caused constant conflicts with military superiors and a general refusal to submit to rules.

Carothers was so resentful of a sergeant who forced him to pick up spit from a sawdust pit in a military training camp that he carefully carried it out of the area while seething with hidden resentment.

The Black Market and Prison

Driven by a desire for fast living and financial gain during and after World War II, Carothers engaged in desertion, armed robbery, and extensive black marketeering in Germany. You could easily get pulled into illegal operations, eventually setting up a fake system using stolen unit finance cards to convert military scrip into money orders.

Carothers bought cigarettes for 10 dollars a carton and sold them on the black market for 100 dollars each. He eventually used stolen finance cards to issue post office money orders and sending them home. Men coming from Berlin would give 1,000 dollars in scrip for a 100 dollar money order.

The consequences for these actions caught up quickly:

• 6 months was the confinement sentence for going AWOL from the Army;
• 5 years was the Federal Penitentiary sentence temporarily suspended by the judge;
• 19 years old was Carothers' age at the time of his sentencing;
• 5 dollars was the price paid to the unit finance clerk for each stolen finance card.

2. Redemption and Spiritual Awakening

A genuine spiritual conversion requires renouncing ill-gotten gains and discovering that Christ lives inside believers as their source of life.

Cleared by Pardon

Legal and criminal consequences can be entirely erased through official pardons granted in recognition of military service. When Carothers reported to the district attorney with 3 years remaining on his sentence, he was informed that he had received a presidential pardon from President Truman and his case was completely closed.

A genuine spiritual conversion often demands the immediate and total renunciation of ill-gotten wealth, regardless of the financial loss. Carothers took his suitcase into the bathroom and flushed piles of one hundred dollar money orders down the toilet, feeling a mounting flood of joy with each flush.

The True Secret of the Christian Life

The true secret of the Christian life is not attempting to copy Jesus as a moral example, but allowing Him to live and transform you from within. You might try to achieve holiness through personal effort or by acquiring spiritual techniques, but this leads to error. The core of the gospel is that Christ lives inside believers as the vine, supplying His life and power through you.

Seeking spiritual power and supernatural phenomena outside of biblical foundations can unknowingly expose you to deceptive and spiritually dangerous forces. In his quest to find power to help others and heal physical afflictions, Carothers studied hypnotism and engaged with the Spiritual Frontiers movement. Carothers visited Arthur Ford's home and witnessed firsthand the workings of a spirit world while investigating hypnotism and psychic phenomena. In Korea, 60 percent of vision was lost in Carothers' right eye after glasses shattered in an accident.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit provides you with a direct, living awareness of Jesus Christ and a renewed sense of spiritual authority. Despite initial skepticism and fear of emotionalism or looking foolish, Carothers attended a retreat, submitted to prayer, and experienced a release of faith that filled him with an overwhelming love for others. While attending a retreat held by Camp Farthest Out at Morehead City, Carothers reluctantly allowed a woman to pray for him, leading to him speaking in an unknown tongue by faith and experiencing an intense surge of love and joy. At 2:00 a.m., Carothers and Dick tried to sleep before getting up to pray for another two hours.

3. Ministry and Obedience

Spiritual effectiveness comes from being an obedient vessel to inner divine promptings rather than relying on human planning or effort.

You discover that trying to preplan sermons or anticipate what to say causes tension and blocks God's power. By letting go of control, keeping the mind blank, and speaking or acting based on immediate internal promptings, your words directly address people's hidden needs.

At Fort Bragg, Merlin R. Carothers approached soldiers like the rough First Sergeant and the Supply Sergeant, speaking words of love that led them to accept Christ. Later, at a church service, he gave an impromptu altar call and prayed precise prayers of confession over kneeling elders without knowing their background.

• Relax in the presence of God.
• Let your mind go blank.
• Open your mouth in faith to speak whatever God impresses on you.

Yielding to Inner Promptings

When faced with complex human dilemmas where logical pat answers fail, you can silently pray in a new spiritual language and receive translations into English that target the root of the individual's bondage or need.

An insolent Private challenged the chaplain to make him quit his three-pack-a-day smoking habit, which he had practiced daily since he was fourteen years old. Carothers silently prayed in his new language and translated it into a bold prayer that the man would never smoke again. Consequently, every time the Private tried to smoke afterward, he vomited until he was completely cured.

• Receive an impression to pray silently.
• Pray silently in your new language.
• Put your hand on the person's shoulder if prompted.
• Translate the prayer into English and speak it out.

Proxy Faith and Unexpected Promotion

True spiritual maturity shifts from asking God to use us to allowing Christ to give Himself and minister through us continually.

When you feel your faith is too weak to pray for stubborn unbelieving relatives, you can rely on the collective faith of a prayer group. God honors this shared belief by initiating unexpected spiritual awakenings remotely.

In Vietnam, a black Sergeant felt he lacked the faith to pray for his religious-resistant wife, whose opposition had caused six years of marital suffering for a Warrant Officer. The prayer group prayed for her collectively. The next morning, the Sergeant received a letter revealing that at the exact hour of their prayer, his wife saw a vision of a revival sign, went to church, accepted Christ, and began teaching Sunday School.

• Gather a small circle of believers.
• Join hands in a circle.
• Share the specific prayer request.
• Exercise faith on behalf of the person who feels weak or lacking in faith.

Obeying God and associating with despised ministries rather than seeking the temporal approval of men results in divine provision and unexpected advancement. Carothers chose to openly support and appear on stage with healing evangelists like Oral Roberts, despite warnings from fellow military chaplains that it would ruin his chances for promotion in the Army. God rewarded this obedience by prompting an exceptional promotion outside regular rules.

After appearing on stage with Oral Roberts in Fayetteville, chaplain friends warned Carothers he could forget about getting anywhere in the Army chaplaincy. The very next week, his name appeared on the selection list for Lieutenant Colonel ahead of normal eligibility rules, which applied to only five percent of Army officers who have the authority to be promoted before they are eligible under ordinary rules. This marked a profound return, coming twenty-three years earlier after the author left Fort Benning as a handcuffed prisoner before returning as a chaplain.

4. The Principle of Rejoicing and Healing

Believers are commanded to rejoice and give thanks in every difficult circumstance, trusting God's sovereignty over all details and physical symptoms.

Merlin R. Carothers learned that complaining nullifies spiritual benefit. You can study scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and wrestle with God over daily irritations. Accepting every unpleasant event as God's deliberate will allows Christ's joy to transform the pain. This principle applies to twenty years of wishing you did not have to get out of bed every morning.

Giving Thanks in Everything

You can leap for joy and rejoice evermore when unexpected delays occur.

When the author's car repeatedly failed to start and led him to a civilian garage where he expected to be heavily overcharged, he thanked God for the incident instead of grumbling. The mechanic suddenly figured out a minor fix, repaired it instantly, and charged nothing, proving that God protects and manages every detail.

You can apply this attitude through concrete actions:

• Stop and recognize God's sovereignty when an unexpected delay or irritation occurs.
• Verbally thank God for the specific difficulty, whether it is a broken car, a red stoplight, or a physical pain.
• Refuse to grumble or complain, allowing the circumstance to turn into joy and praise.

Faith Beyond Physical Symptoms

When praying for physical healing, true faith relies entirely on God's promise rather than tracking physical symptoms, which Satan can continue to fake. You might deal with an infirmity of the flesh while trying to trust divine power. Once healing is requested and believed, physical symptoms lose their meaning and can be ignored while continuing to praise God.

Suffering from fifteen years of severe hay fever lasting six months out of the year, the author was challenged to praise God for the affliction. During a speaking engagement while his nose was running and he was sneezing uncontrollably, he left his handkerchief in the car, trusted God for the healing while ignoring the symptoms, and found the symptoms completely vanished afterward.

You can follow these steps to claim healing:

• Ask God for healing rather than just the removal of symptoms.
• Accept the healing in faith based on God's promise.
• Ignore lingering physical symptoms and continue praising God regardless of what the body feels.

5. Applying Praise to Life Crises

Offering the sacrifice of praise in the midst of severe crises, broken relationships, and addictions releases God's power to resolve impossible situations.

Overcoming Crises and Addictions

Thanking God for difficult and painful circumstances instead of fighting them releases divine power to resolve problems. Human attitudes and resistance often hinder problem-solving. When you obey the biblical mandate to give thanks in everything, you stop fighting your circumstances and release God's sovereign power to change situations and hearts.

Ron and Sue were facing a crisis regarding Ron's deployment to Vietnam and Sue's suicidal threats. After they knelt and thanked God for the situation, Sue miraculously reconnected with a long-lost brother and family in the chaplain's waiting room, while Ron secured a transfer to work in a legal office nearby. This happened against the backdrop of the United States having an approximate population of 200 million people, highlighting staggering odds.

You can follow these steps in a crisis:

• Kneel and turn the difficult situation over to God.
• Offer a prayer thanking God for the specific trouble or unpleasant circumstance.
• Continue to trust Him regardless of what the situation looks like.

The prayer of praise can profoundly heal broken relationships and overcome severe addictions, such as alcoholism, without direct intervention from others. You can shift focus from complaint and despair to active gratitude for a spouse's flaws, unleashing God's power directly into the life of the troubled partner.

An Army wife who wanted to leave her alcoholic husband was told to thank God for his condition instead. Two weeks later, her husband completely stopped drinking for the first time in seven years without the chaplain ever speaking to him, and he returned to interacting with his children. The husband had regularly gone to the refrigerator for beer throughout those 7 years.

You can apply this relational approach by following these practices:

• Refuse to leave or nag out of desperation initially.
• Thank God that the spouse is struggling with their specific flaw.
• Allow God's power to work inwardly in the other person's life.

The Ladder of Praise

God can redeem past failures and severe personal mistakes when you surrender them with thanksgiving rather than viewing them as a chain. Despair and regret over past sins or legal consequences trap individuals in cyclical depression. By thanking God for every detail, including past wrong choices, you acknowledge His total control.

A soldier who stole clothes and a car after a heart diagnosis ended up in the stockade facing a heavy General Court-martial. His defense attorney warned that a 5-year prison sentence was the best he could hope for. After thanking God for his past and his current trial, he received a surprisingly lenient sentence of 6 months in the local stockade without a military discharge, experienced physical healing from his heart condition, and was released early. He went from only being able to walk 100 yards before getting tired to running without fatigue.

You can overcome past mistakes by taking these steps:

• Stop viewing past failures as a chain around the neck.
• Thank God for every detail of past life and mistakes.
• Believe that God permitted these things to bring you to your current place.

Praising God in all circumstances is like climbing a ladder through a dark cloud of confusion into the brilliant light of heavenly victory. The author experienced a vision of this ladder at a Camp Farthest Out Retreat, showing how a heavy black cloud sits above everyday life. Climbers who use the ladder of praise often slide back down when they encounter things they do not understand, but those who persist keep their eyes off the problem and on Christ's victory. A woman facing family illness and difficulties found her heaviness completely lifted and her eyes lit up with joyous expectancy after hearing about this vision.

You can navigate dark times with these actions:

• Climb the ladder of praising God even when facing dark, confusing circumstances.
• Keep your eyes off the problem and fixed on Christ's victory.
• Refuse to look down or examine the dark cloud to avoid sinking back into doubt.

6. Spiritual Warfare and Deepening Maturity

Unseen evil spirits often contribute to human despair and destructive behavior. You can confront and drive out these forces by invoking the name of Jesus Christ and His shed blood, freeing the individual to receive truth.

Praise serves as a weapon of spiritual warfare against demonic oppression and forces of darkness that threaten individuals.

An Army wife deserted by her husband tried to commit suicide and showed signs of deep, evil bondage. The author commanded the vicious spirit to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ, after which her glassy eyes cleared and she smiled radiantly. She left behind 3 children.

You can engage in spiritual warfare with these practices:

• Recognize when a problem involves a demonic nature rather than just psychological distress.
• Step out in faith trusting God to do the work.
• Speak out loud commanding the malicious spirit to leave in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His shed blood.

Spiritual Warfare and the Sacrifice of Praise

True praise is not conditional on feeling good or receiving immediate positive outcomes. It is an act of sheer teeth-gritting obedience and willpower that decreases self-importance and increases the indwelling presence of Christ.

The highest form of praise is the sacrifice of praise, offered from a heavy heart when all around is darkness simply because God is God.

Parents struggling with their teenager's violent hatred toward her younger sister practiced thanking God for the difficult child for 2 weeks. When the teenager deliberately dropped a potted plant on the rug, the parents automatically responded with thank You, Lord, breaking the family's long-standing bondage.

You can apply this praise in daily challenges through these steps:

• Offer the sacrifice of praise continually from a heavy heart.
• Practice thanking God daily for difficult family members or behavioral challenges.
• Let God cleanse the heart from impure motives and hidden bargaining designs.

Foundational Disciplines

True Christian love is severely tested when confronting unlovable, repulsive human misery, exposing the shallow and selfish nature of natural human affection. Genuine divine love requires recognizing personal inadequacy and asking God to fill the heart with His infinite love.

A filthy, foul-smelling, and pregnant girl showed up at the author's office threatening suicide and murder. The author initially cringed and felt internal revulsion, then confessed his selfish love and asked God to touch her.

After accepting Christ, you must build spiritual strength through daily Bible study, fervent prayer, rejecting evil, and witnessing to others. The author outlines four non-negotiable spiritual disciplines necessary to prevent you from becoming a lukewarm Christian and to maintain the dynamic force of God's power released through praise. Over the course of 27 years since Prison to Praise was originally written, thousands of readers accepted Jesus as their Savior, proving the enduring validity of these spiritual truths in Power in Praise and Praise News.

You can maintain spiritual maturity using these rules:

• Earnestly study God's Word every day as God's breath.
• Pray regularly and fervently without letting yourself think you are too busy.
• Turn your back on evil of every kind and avoid media that makes evil look attractive.
• Witness for Him daily by bringing other people to Christ.

10 Key Ideas

1. Merlin R. Carothers transitioned from a rebellious youth engaged in military desertion, armed robbery, and black marketeering to a United States Army chaplain after facing imprisonment and receiving a presidential pardon from President Truman.
2. A genuine spiritual conversion requires renouncing ill-gotten gains and discovering that Christ lives inside believers as the true source of life and power.
3. Spiritual effectiveness comes from yielding to inner divine promptings and being an obedient vessel rather than relying on human planning or effort.
4. When facing complex human dilemmas where logical answers fail, believers can silently pray in a new spiritual language and receive translations into English that target the root of bondage.
5. When believers feel their faith is too weak to pray for stubborn relatives, they can rely on the collective faith of a prayer group to initiate remote spiritual awakenings.
6. Believers are commanded to rejoice and give thanks in every difficult circumstance, trusting God's sovereignty over all details and physical symptoms to stop fighting trials.
7. Once healing is requested in faith, physical symptoms lose their meaning and can be ignored while believers continue praising God regardless of what the body feels.
8. By thanking God for past wrong choices and every detail of a difficult life, individuals climb the ladder of praise through dark clouds of confusion into heavenly victory.
9. Believers can confront and drive out unseen evil spirits contributing to human despair and destructive behavior by invoking the name of Jesus Christ and His shed blood.
10. Maintaining spiritual maturity and the dynamic force of God's power requires foundational disciplines including daily Bible study, fervent prayer, turning away from evil, and witnessing to others.