Shalom and thank you for joining us for another episode of Living Supernaturally. Through the beginning of this week, we have been mediating on scripture and how we can use scripture to pray, at different times of our lives. Today, we are looking at the prayer for boldness. The prayer we look at is one of the most inspiring passages in scripture. It is a prayer of boldness that we find in the fourth chapter of Acts. The beginning of Acts and some of the earlier chapters in Acts gives us the first hints of the persecution the church is facing and will face throughout history. The initial chapters of Acts give us the account of the spread of the gospel in Jerusalem and after Jesus’ ascension. When the priests and the temple guards see Peter and John preaching to the crowds and healing a man, they arrest them and the Sanhedrin, they question peter and John on the power that was displayed there. They take the opportunity to publicly speak and preach about Jesus. It is here where the leaders pray this prayer of boldness. What are the leaders of the early church doing? They are asking God to equip them, to face the persecution from the Sanhedrin. We know that the Sanhedrin was a counsel of priests, Jews, elders, and scribes who were responsible also for the crucifixion of Jesus. We see that the elder’s prayer was a selfless act and they do not ask for relief from the persecution or judgement towards those who were persecuting them but instead they are asking for boldness, they are asking that God would heal and perform miraculous signs among them. These early followers of Jesus were facing that harsh opposition from the very people around. Rather than complaining, they stood up and prayed for boldness. The first thing that they asked for is to consider, they were saying, ‘Lord consider the threats that are coming to us.’ The second thing they pray for us is to be able to speak boldly. Third, they pray that God would continue to show His power to heal and to bring about miracles. God answers this with a resounding certainty. We find that the meeting place shakes up like an earthquake because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. How does this apply to us today? We know and see that the faith, you and I profess is under constant threat and we in these modern times, we do face times of hostility. How are we going to respond? Can we just like the early disciples pray for boldness, pray that God would continue His power and His work among the people who may cause that threat to us? Can we stand in boldness and pray? Can we stand without complaining and without fear and pray that amidst all the threats we may receive or hear about, that we will continue to walk our faith and preach the gospel in boldness? Let’s pray this prayer that the early church prayed, the prayer of boldness. The verses will be shown to you on the screen, you can follow me, or open your bibles and follow me as we pray. Let’s pray together, ‘Lord, amidst all the threats, we may receive, grant to your servants that with all boldness we may speak your word, by stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus’, Amen.

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