Bold prayers

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204-6&version=NIV

When I read the believers prayer today in Acts 4:23-31, my first thought was 'Why don't we pray like that?' Such a bold, powerful prayer rose up from the believers - a prayer that was prayed not in the best of times, but at the beginning of what would be for many persecuted believers, the worst of times. What bothers me about this prayer is that as believers today, few of us have faced the persecution or opposition that was just the beginning of the battle for the church of Acts, yet we are still not compelled to pray bold and empowering prayers for speaking about the truth of God. Why don't we pray like that?

I believe there are several answers to that question. I believe the first is that our passions are more for ourselves and less for Jesus. We have not moved passed the point of drive through 'made to order and give it to me quick' prayers. We come to God with requests not for what we need to serve him, but rather for what we want for our own pleasure or comfort. We want answer, we want them quickly, and preferably in the form of a happy meal with an added toy thrown in. Yes, there are times when we make requests that have to do with serving God, but too often it's more like an after-thought - like asking him to throw in an extra side-order of fries.

The second reason many don't pray boldly is so many of us haven't really gotten to know Jesus - I mean really know him. The word would prove, I think, that those who had a personal relationship or encounter with Christ were most passionate about him and speaking boldly about his truth. Without a passion for Christ, without a full picture of his true grace and mercy, without a personal encounter, we are unlikely to have the passion that would make us seek him. Without that type of passion, we certainly won't pray bold prayers when times get tough. Jesus invites us to encounter him - ask and it will be given you, seek him and you will find him, knock and he will open the door. Invite him in and he will come and eat with you.

The third reason we don't pray bold prayers - especially those asking for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives - is because we haven't began to understand, experience, or tap into the amazing power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples where just beginning to have a picture of the amazing power, coming to the realization of what Jesus meant when he said in John 14:12-13, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." Notice how they end their prayer in Acts 4:30, "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

The believers prayed exactly what Jesus told them to pray for. They took him at his word, and even though they didn't have scripture to point to the way the Holy Spirit worked, they had the words and promise of Jesus. They prayed - he delivered. "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldy" (Acts 4:31).

Friends, we need to know Jesus. We need to know his way, his works, his grace, his mercy and especially his word. We need to know that nothing compares to serving him - that nothing can satisfy us more. We need to know that what he speaks is truth and that we can take him at his word. We need to know that he has not limited the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives but that he offers to us the same power he offered to the believers in the church of Acts. We need to believe that if God has given us a passionate heart to speak boldly for him, he will also equip us to do just that.

If you want to see God move, fall in love with Jesus. Allow the Spirit to build you in a passion to speak boldy about him and to serve boldy for him and for the glory of the Father. And then, when you pray in the name of Jesus that he would pour out the Holy Spirit on you as you work for him and for the glory of the Father, you MUST believe that he will do it and be obedient to his calling. Know Jesus, fall in love with him, believe him, speak of him, pray bold prayers and watch the power of the Holy Spirit work through you as it pours into the life of others. There is nothing - absolutely nothing more amazing then being in the center of God's will as you serve him.

Be blessed, my precious friends. Be bold!

Today's post was submitted by Carol Bartels