Student Devotionals
Acts 4:29
Speak God's Word Boldly
During this season with Coronavirus, many people are afraid and desperately looking for peace. As Christians, we have the answers they need - Jesus. Nevertheless, many believers feel timid and inadequate to share the gospel. They are worried that they will mess up, ruin friendships, or misrepresent God.
Can you relate to these struggles? If so, I’d like to share some encouragement with you from the Word today that will help you to be brave during this season. Rather than deciding that you are purely a victim during this time, you may have the opportunity to reach others in more powerful ways than ever before. Isn’t that an exciting thought?
The early church proves to us that even when situations are at their worst, Christians have the ability to make a difference. The only question is, will they be bold enough to act?
Let’s look at Acts 4:29 together:
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant Your
servants to continue to speak Your Word with all boldness...”
This is a prayer spoken by Peter and John at an early gathering of believers. To give a bit of context, the disciples had just been arrested, interrogated and banned from speaking about Jesus by the Jewish governing council for healing a man and preaching the gospel.
Do you know what happened after they prayed this prayer? God answered their request! They were all filled with the Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. We really ought to thank God for that, because God gave and used their boldness to spread the message of the gospel all around the world. Think about it... YOU and I wouldn’t know Jesus without the boldness of the apostles speaking the word of God in the 1st century! We’re the direct beneficiaries of their courage and their prayers.
But is this kind of bold gospel proclamation something that God can really use “normal” people like you and me to do? After all, we’re talking about apostles in this story along with their most committed band of believers! That can feel like a group of superheroes compared to you and me.
You know, I used to think that “speaking ability” was something you were either born with or not. And maybe you are in the same boat, thinking that maybe you just aren’t cut out for speaking out boldly. But remember, the disciples mentioned in the passage were NOT always this bold! In fact, they cowered in fear when Jesus got arrested, and all of them abandoned him!
So how did they become these bold speakers as we read about in Acts chapter 4, in less than a year’s time (keeping in mind, that most of the 12 disciples were uneducated men to begin with)? The answer comes from the way the disciples pray:
1. They prayed out of their TRUST in Jesus
They reminded themselves of who Jesus is and what he just accomplished through his death and resurrection (Acts 4:27-28). Even when Jesus’ own situation was at its worst, it was still entirely under the control of the Sovereign God… everything going exactly to His incredible plan. They drew encouragement from this reality that their own threats and obstacles were nothing to be afraid of. Instead of cowering in fear, they decided to trust in their Lord!
2. They prayed for more Boldness
They never took boldness for granted. They knew that it was appropriate and necessary to pray for more boldness so that they would be ready when the next challenge inevitably came to them. That’s good news for me! After all, if these towering heroes of the faith knew that they needed God’s help to be as bold as they should be, then I shouldn’t feel ashamed about needing to do so as well. God offers supernatural help to those who are willing to ask for it!
What this means is that in order to consistently speak boldly, we first need to learn to pray boldly.
During this season, let’s share the Gospel!
This time of Shelter-in-place due to the Coronavirus may be the best opportunity to reach others for Jesus. After you’ve prayed for boldness, here are a few easy ways you can take action:
- Share personal thoughts about Jesus and your hope during the Coronavirus on your social media pages. They don’t need to be long, but they should be from you. It doesn’t matter how big your platform is; the people in your life will likely be far more impacted by something you write than something that you share from a big-name Christian speaker.
- Text/Call/Facetime your non-Christian friends and family and ask how they are doing during this time. In addition to showing them love and encouraging them, pray that God might give you a good opportunity to begin a conversation about Jesus.
- Help advertise outreaches that are already being done by your church and even our own Meant For More movement! For example, Meant For More is hosting a nation-wide, live stream testimony/gospel message by an incredible speaker this coming Tuesday, April 21. Click here to learn more.
These are just ideas to get you started. If you want help figuring out a plan to reach out to a friend or family member, feel free to email us at info@nationalschoolproject.com, and one of our staff would be glad to chat with you.
Be encouraged! You can share the gospel.
Really.
Yes, you.
AND you can do it boldly!
- Barnaby Lee