Praying for boldness
I wrote this for my church newsletter:
“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” Psalm 138:3
In Acts 4:29 we see the believers praying after Peter and John have been released from a night in jail. “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” and the answer in v.31 “After they prayed … they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly”. While this is the only recorded prayer for boldness there are about six other occasions in Acts when we read that someone, mostly Paul, spoke the word of God boldly, which suggests that maybe this was something they prayed on a regular basis.
Yet it seems that we don’t pray for boldness very often. It is quite a scary thing to pray, especially when we see how promptly God answered. Boldness will help us to initiate conversations about the Lord and put us in situations where we are asked about our faith. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that your have” 1 Peter 3:15.
Nevertheless it is not God’s intention to overwhelm us and He will teach us, “little by little” like He taught the Israelites when they took possession of the land. “Little by little I will drive them out before you until you have increased enough to take possession of the land” Exodus 23:30.
So boldness, like wisdom (“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, …” James 1:5), is something we can regularly pray for ourselves, and others as we seek to be God’s witnesses.
3 thoughts on “Praying for boldness”
yeah boldness is something kinda scary to pray for, something i probably need lots more though, i can be quite the chicken
Most people pray for safety, protection and that things will go smoothy….i wonder how interested God is in answering these prayers
On the one hand I think God would like us to walk in the protection He already provides and therefore pray more risky prayers. On the other hand God knows what it is like to live on earth, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3