What Do You Pray For?
One of the joys of reading the Bible is that each time you read it, you approach it from a different place in your life, and so different verses tend to leap out. I started working my way through the book of Acts this month and I am now up to the 4th Chapter. It covers Peter and John being brought before the leaders of the temple because they had been proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. On top of that they had been healing people and the leaders wanted to know under whose authority did they preach, teach and heal. When I read this, I often focused on what Peter and John were saying. This time I noticed a little verse in between. Acts 4:13
Now when they (the chief priests) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
When they saw the boldness…. that’s pretty amazing. From denying Jesus, hiding in a room, to a Pentecost sermon and now in front of the same people who crucified the Lord. Bold indeed! It is an amazing change. The transformation is from brash and terrified disciple to the bold apostle. Peter challenges the rulers. The man they condemned is the only man that can save them. It takes a lot of courage to confront your enemies. It takes boldness and love to try and save your enemies. In the following section it is recorded that the believers gathered around Peter and John and prayed for boldness.
We pray for a lot of things. But how often do we pray for boldness; especially to proclaim Christ? Even to proclaim Christ to those people we might not like, or even, our enemies. We have been blessed to be in a nation where we are free to practice and preach freely. Oh, we may feel persecuted from time to time, and certainly the world is becoming more hostile, but we do not fear for our lives when we gather for worship. Because of this we don’t often pray to be bold. Being bold requires facing risks, being confident, and being willing to accept the outcome. It is time for us to start praying to be bold. It is time for us to take the good news of the Gospel into the World. What stops you from being bold? Fear? You know what the best part of being a Christian is? God removes those fears. For example,
Fear of rejection:
Psalm 27:10 – For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.
Fear of weakness:
2 Corinthians 12:9 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Fear of being hated:
John 15:18 – And Jesus said ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
Fear of condemnation:
Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Which leads to release from fear of death:
Hebrews 2:14-15 – Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
We have been delivered my friends; you are God’s children. Be bold.
-Pastor Dan