WEDNESDAY: PRAY FOR BOLDNESS
KEY PASSAGE
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
DEVOTIONAL
Peter and John had just been released from jail for preaching about Jesus. The priests and rulers made threats and commanded them to stop speaking the name of Jesus in the streets (Acts 4:18, 21). When Peter and John return to their people, everyone’s first response was to pray together.
Acts 4:29-30 are the final words of their prayer, in which they ask the Lord to give them boldness to speak the Word and ask the Lord to heal and perform miracles through the name of Jesus. Praying together and calling on the name of Jesus is a bold act already. They had just been arrested for and warned against doing that. It is interesting that they are already praying boldly while asking for boldness. Their concern was not for their own well-being but for the will of God and His Word to be known. Their knowledge of who Jesus is and their faith in the power of God gave them boldness to pray. Their prayers were answered in verse 31 as they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”
What threats are you facing? There may be legitimate risks to speaking the Word of God in your workplace, home, school, or friend group. Consider the threats you face just on social media. What does speaking with great boldness look like in your life?
The disciples asked God to measure the threats: “Now, Lord, consider their threats.” Can anything truly threaten God? Nothing is a threat to Him. And He will not fail to protect those who love Him and acknowledge His name (Psalms 91:14). To believe in God’s will is to believe that the battle belongs to Him (1 Samuel 17:47).
What was true for the disciples is true for us. When we ask God to give us the boldness to speak and work for Him, He gives the Holy Spirit to speak and work through us.
CHALLENGE
Is there someone in your life who has rejected Jesus? Have you let your frustrations and judgments keep you from reaching them with the gospel of Christ?
Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Maybe you need a pedicure.
Maybe your feet are dusty. That doesn’t mean they can’t still bring the good news.
Ask the Lord to create in you a clean heart . . . to wash your feet. Let the good news of Jesus travel with you.