PRAY FIRSTSample

Powerful prayers are unified, they draw on God’s promises, and finally, they demonstrate boldness. Notice that the way Peter and John acted certainly displayed this quality, but boldness is also something their group requested going forward. They didn’t want to rest on past events but wanted to be conduits of God’s power: “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” (Acts 4:29–30 NIV).

Apparently, God answered this prayer right away: “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 4:31 NIV). When we request this same kind of boldness, it indicates how much we’re willing to rely on God—and to be used by Him. We demonstrate that our emotions and circumstances cannot get in the way of God’s Spirit.

God seems to delight in answering our request for His boldness. We’re told, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 NKJV). The two adjectives here—effective and fervent—are actually one word in the Greek, energeo. As you might suspect, it’s connected with the idea of energy, especially the kind that’s red-hot, on fire, and boiling over. This is the kind of boldness in prayer that reflects God’s mighty power.

No wonder then that the devil likes weak prayers—ones that are passive and detached, distracted and disengaged. But I’m convinced we insult God with timid prayers and tepid faith. If our prayers are possible for us to fulfill, then they disrespect God because we don’t really require His divine intervention or supernatural power. God honors bold prayers because bold prayers honor God.

When we pray with the same passionate commitment as those first believers described in the New Testament, we transcend the limitations imposed on us by others—and ourselves. We rely on God and trust in His ability to do what we can never do for ourselves. To see God’s power unleashed, pray in unity, pray the promises of Scripture, and pray boldly.

Prayer

Lord, I confess that I do not always pray boldly. Please forgive me for my timid prayers, and help me as I remove the limitations I have put on my prayers. Amen.