“‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ 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 boldly.” — Acts 4:29-31
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When I do chapel services on game days, I sit at the visitor’s end of the court during warm-ups and invite players and coaches from the visiting team to chapel. It is a sight to see players raining 3-pointers and making 80% or more of their shots during warm-ups. Every player looks like a perennial NBA All-Star during warm-ups, but when you have an opponent in front of you, trying to stop you, it’s a whole different story.
As Christians who are on mission, we have to remember we have opposition. Colossians 1:13 says that when we trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, we were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into Christ’s Kingdom. The kingdom of darkness opposes Christ’s Kingdom. So we will have opposition to being His witnesses (Acts 1:8) and making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). In some countries, Christians face imprisonment and even death for being Christians. You may not face imprisonment or death, but you may be mocked, ostracized or hated for being a Christian and sharing your faith.
In Acts 4, the believers experienced persecution for their faith. What did they pray for? Did they pray for religious liberty? No. Did they pray for new leaders? No. They prayed for boldness. Acts 4:29 says, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” And God answered their prayer (Acts 4:31).
Pray for boldness today.
— Ikki Soma, Houston Rockets chaplain
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