Be Bold

"When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

   "'Why did the Gentiles rage,

       and the peoples plot in vain?

  The kings of the earth set themselves,

       and the rulers were gathered together,

       against the Lord and against his Anointed'

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness."

Throughout scripture we see an emphasis on prayer and the importance of prayer in the lives of believers.  Too often, however, prayer becomes a time to hand God our laundry list of personal desires.  While scripture does, of course, say we are to make our requests known to Him, it can become all too easy to focus our prayers solely on what we want, and not on what God wants from us. 


In this passage from Acts 4, Peter and John had just been released from the religious leaders who were threatening them for speaking boldly in Jesus' name. "So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus."  Acts 4:18.  But after Peter and John are released, they went to their friends and together they prayed for boldness.  That they would continue to teach the truth and to share the gospel boldly!


That is a very hard prayer to pray, because it is much easier to just go about our lives and keep our mouths shut.  But God requires more from us, as followers of Christ, than to simply live our lives here on earth without a care at all for the lost and dying around us.  We are commanded in scripture to go and share what Jesus has done with the entire world, and to make disciples of all nations.  We cannot do that without boldness!  


Just this week, friends of ours were able to see a young girl devote her life to Christ.  She has had a difficult life, and has used and been surrounded by drug users.  But today she is bursting with excitement and hope.  She purchased three different copies of scripture to compare translations as she reads.  She is picking out a new verse each day to be her "verse of the day."  She is ministering to the homeless and homebound.  And this is a girl who does not even understand how to read scripture references (i.e. where a verse is found). Her life is completely changed and made new because my friends were bold enough to love her (even though she may have seemed unlovable) and to share the TRUTH with her.  


So this is my prayer for myself, and it is the prayer of our church, because it is our desire to reach our community, and to see lives changed every single day.  And I am so excited to see God do amazing things among us!