With All Boldness

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:29-31

You can learn a lot about a person by listening to them pray. Peter and John were arrested and interrogated by the council of Jewish religious leaders. The men in the council wanted to punish them, but they were hesitant to do so because of the lame man that had been healed. So they threatened Peter and John and commanded them not to preach any more in the name of Jesus. After they were released, Peter and John met with the other disciples and held a prayer meeting. Their primary request was that God would give them boldness to continue preaching the Gospel. They were charting new territory. This was the first persecution the church experienced after Jesus ascended to heaven. In our society, our first response when we experience persecution is to fight back. We want to write letters, send emails, lobby our representatives, organize protests, and even take legal action. While these means may be warranted in some cases, when they are our first response, they reflect a great deal of difference between our thinking and theirs. They prayed for boldness and perhaps we should, too.