And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Acts 4:29-30Notice what they prayed for. First they prayed for boldness in preaching God's word. Second they prayed for more power from God to do miracles. In other words, they prayed for the exact same things that got them in trouble in the first place.
That is the exact opposite of what we do, isn't it? We pray for protection. We pray for an easy life. We pray for our needs and wants to be met. But we don't pray for trouble. We don't pray for boldness.
Our prayers are almost the complete opposite of the prayer we read Peter praying in Acts 4.
That's why I think most of us, myself included, are pretty boldless.
It's time for a change. What we need isn't protection. What we need is boldness. What we need is for God to do things in and through us that might get us into trouble with the powers that be.
So here's my request: Would you join with me in praying for boldness?
Mark Batterson says that God honors bold prayers because bold prayers honor God.
In the book of Joshua we find an example of one of the boldest prayers in the Bible. Joshua prayed that God would cause the sun to stand still so that the Israelites could finish wiping out their enemies. God answered Joshua's bold prayer.
So, in addition to praying for boldness, would you join with me in praying some bold prayers?
If people ever write something about me I don't want them to say that I was boldless. I'd rather they not say that about you either.
God, give us boldness in proclaiming your Word and, because of your power at work in and through us, do the miraculous, all so that people will know the way, the truth and the life: Jesus.
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