It’s a simple prayer that has grabbed my attention this morning. One of those requests that, as you linger over it, you ask yourself, “Am I prepared to prayer such a prayer? If God granted the petition, am I ready for the implications?” What’s the prayer? In a word . . . BOLDNESS.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” (Acts 4:29)

The healing of the lame man created quite a stir . . . and provided quite the opportunity for Peter and John. That’s the intent of healings, signs and wonders . . . to provide a platform to point people to Jesus, the One who has the power to heal . . . more importantly the One who has the power to save. And they preached it! No holds barred. And many of those who heard the word believed (4:4).

And the happenings that day at the temple got back to the rulers and elders . . . both concerning the miracle and the message they were preaching . . . and so they brought Peter and John up on the carpet. Then they “loaded the gun” and Peter “pulled the trigger.”

“By what power or what name did you do this?” they said (4:7). Thanks for asking, replies Peter . . . and “filled with the Holy Spirit” Peter declares the source of such power as Jesus . . . whom they had crucified . . . whom they had rejected as the chief cornerstone . . . whom God had raised from the dead . . . “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (4:10-12)

BA-BAM!!! These nobody fishermen stood before these high-falootin’, uppity-ups and preached it . . . told it like it is . . . didn’t back down. And the Holy Spirit, through Luke, records, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (4:13).

They had spoken with boldness . . . they were warned by the religious leaders to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus (4:18) . . . and, as they gathered with the saints to pray, they asked for more boldness. Their reliance wasn’t upon cleverly formed arguments . . . they didn’t need a well put together PowerPoint presentation. What they asked for was freedom in speaking . . . for openness and frankness in talking . . . for unreservedness in sharing . . . for free and fearless confidence in declaring that Jesus is the only name by which men must be saved.

They had spoken with boldness . . . because they were filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8) . . . and they asked for more boldness. Their reliance wasn’t upon their own courage . . . it wasn’t about “gutting it out” in their own strength. But what they asked for was the continued filling of the Holy Spirit. As Paul would put it, in his letter to Timothy, they were seeking to stir up the gift within them . . . realizing that they hadn’t been given a spirit of fear but of power . . . and, as such, not wanting to be ashamed of the testimony of Christ . . . but instead to stand for the gospel according to the power of God (2Tim. 1:6-8).

Continued boldness, however, would mean continued opposition . . . more conflicts . . . eventually beatings and imprisonment . . . and, for some, it would mean being “bold unto death.” So they prayed . . . God answered . . . “the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (4:31) And so, I hover over this prayer and ask myself, “Am I prepared to pray this prayer?”

Oh, that God would grant boldness . . . that the reality of the filling of the Holy Spirit might be known . . . that opportunities to testify of Christ might be seized . . . that it might be recognized that I have too been with Jesus. His power . . . my willingness. His gospel . . . my tongue. His glory . . . yes, His glory.