Dear Friends,
At our recent international prayer gathering I was impressed by our need to be bold in these days. The request for boldness was made several times.
In the Bible the term boldness has several applications:
1. To be bold means we will be honest. We will speak publicly with openness and transparency.
The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.
Acts 26:26
2. To be bold is to be clear and understandable.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,
John 11:14
3. To be bold is to be fearless! This is the most common use of the term. It appears 10 times in Acts with this meaning. See Acts 9:27-28, 13:46, 14:3 and 19:8.
4. To be bold is to be confident. It means to show true conviction!
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
Hebrews 10:19
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
Hebrews 10:35
God we ask you to fill us with boldness! Help us to be bold in our actions, our speech and our thoughts!
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. ‘ 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
Acts 4:23-29