Acts 4:13-31 Speaking With All Boldness

Observation: Peter and John have healed a paralyzed man in the Jerusalem temple in Jesus' name. When the religious authorities--the same people who orchestrated Jesus' death--tell them not to preach in Jesus' name anymore, Peter and John decide to listen to God instead of humans, "for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." After somehow avoiding arrest, the apostles pray, not for safety from a very real danger, but for even more boldness to speak God's word.

Application: You know what? The more I watch what's going on around me, the more I get this paralyzing sense of anxiety, guilt and exhaustion. I know I'm not speaking out enough on behalf of people who are suffering very real harm in our society. Maybe some would call that "preaching politics," but I'm fairly sure Peter and John healing and preaching in the name of a man the Roman government recently crucified was seen as political also.

I need Peter and John's prayer today, not for safety from danger (my worst-case scenario is nowhere near as bad as theirs was anyway) but to speak God's word "with all boldness".

I think Peter and John were able to pray for boldness instead of safety because they knew the power of the story they had to tell. They had seen with their own eyes that Jesus had died, but was alive again. They were fresh from the miracle of Pentecost, where thousands heard God's word, and believed.

When I just pray for unity, for harmony, for peace, for everybody to "just get along," the subtle message I'm sending is that I don't really believe God's word can change lives and hearts. That it's more important not to offend people than to really speak the truth I find in God's word. But when I ask God to give me the guts to just tell the truth, well, I have to actually believe what Jesus says, that "the truth will set us free." That's a whole other thing. It's far from safe, but it's exactly what our world needs.

Prayer: Okay. Here goes...God, I want you to help me proclaim your word with all boldness. At least I want to want that. Maybe that's a start. Give me, and all who are reading this, some compassion, some discernment, and a whole lot of backbone, because the times require nothing less. Help us trust that your truth really does set us free. Amen.