Acts 4:23–31 (ESV)
The Believers Pray for Boldness
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard
it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy
Spirit,
“ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples
of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all
boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, 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.
Mounting pressure drives the apostles
to prayer. They recite God’s sure Word and ask Him for boldness and a demonstration of His presence. Remember to pray for boldness when faced with persecution. Rejoice that the Lord refashions you in His image by His Word and Spirit.
I pray: Lord, grant Your Church throughout the world such a prayer for boldness, said with one heart and one Spirit. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht,
The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1840.