‘Grant To Your Servants…Boldness’

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word…

Acts 4:29

The enemies of the Gospel utterly failed to silence the Apostles.  They threatened them, commanded them to cease teaching and preaching in the Name of Christ…and got nowhere.  The context of our text for today tells us that after the religious authorities let go of Peter and John, they returned to ‘their own companions’ and recounted the incident to them.  This report sparked an utterance of praise and prayer.  Our text for today is part of that prayer.  It is worthwhile to notice that they did not pray for the persecution to cease, nor did they complain about the fact that they were enduring it.  What they prayed for was more boldness.  When we have made much of Christ and He has done wonderful works, we may expect opposition, threats, criticism and concerted efforts to silence us.  Our natural inclination is to go on our way and seek to blend into the landscape, saying very little.  The Apostles just wanted to be bolder and better witnesses of the truth of Christ.  This is exactly the right approach for us.   This need not make us belligerent, pugnacious, or obnoxious, but we do want the boldness of the Apostles.  The more opposition we face to Christ and to His Gospel, the more clearly we need to make much of Him.  He alone can grant us that holy boldness.  Let us today approach the Throne of Grace to grant unto us the same boldness which they were seeking.  It is His work and His cause.

Our Wise and Powerful God,
we rejoice that You enable Your messengers to boldly declare Your truth.
We praise You that You have committed unto us,
the message of Christ.
Evermore give us the boldness to make much of Him.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning