The Believers Prayer....
"On their release, (from interrogation by the authorities, and threats of violence if they don’t shut up about this Jesus) Peter and John went home and reported…
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God… "…Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your WORD with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
And 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 4:23-31 (ish)
I was convicted by this prayer of late… When I say convicted, I mean that I was shown, by God, that my thoughts, my desires, my prayers, were not entirely in line with his in this area. The kind of ‘showing’ that demands a response, a decision to act and to think differently. Repentance…
You see, I’ve been seeing a need for quite some time to see people healed of physical sickness and disease. I see it in the Bible, I see promises made, provisions made… I want to see it ‘lived out’ in the here and now. This is my desire. So, for quite a while, I’ve been praying the ‘believers’ prayer… but, I’ve only been praying part of it.
I’ve been praying for God to "stretch out his hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of his holy servant Jesus." I knew this was in line with the will and the WORD of God, because it is written right here in Acts. And God was clearly pleased with this prayer, because after they prayed the place was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the prayer was answered.
The part that GOT my attention recently is the verse directly before, and directly after the one I’ve been praying. It goes like this… "and enable your servants to speak your WORD with great boldness….." and afterwards, " and they spoke the WORD of God boldly." In other words… PUT MYSELF OUT THERE… no matter the risks, no matter the threats, no matter the clucking tongues, no matter the potential for misunderstanding, no matter the controversy. Speak the WORD of God BOLDLY.
For me, that means die to self protection……. It means die to the need to be accepted by my peers. It means I can’t cower in the corner. I wanted God to stretch forth his hand, while I remained cowardly and silent and uncertain, while I muttered silent prayers unseen and unheard by those whose approval and respect I crave.
I have expanded my prayer to include the "enable your servant" part, when I have the courage, and I take it back and go back to cowering when I don’t……. I’m on a journey…… pray with me… if you dare…..
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God… "…Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your WORD with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
And 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 4:23-31 (ish)
I was convicted by this prayer of late… When I say convicted, I mean that I was shown, by God, that my thoughts, my desires, my prayers, were not entirely in line with his in this area. The kind of ‘showing’ that demands a response, a decision to act and to think differently. Repentance…
You see, I’ve been seeing a need for quite some time to see people healed of physical sickness and disease. I see it in the Bible, I see promises made, provisions made… I want to see it ‘lived out’ in the here and now. This is my desire. So, for quite a while, I’ve been praying the ‘believers’ prayer… but, I’ve only been praying part of it.
I’ve been praying for God to "stretch out his hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of his holy servant Jesus." I knew this was in line with the will and the WORD of God, because it is written right here in Acts. And God was clearly pleased with this prayer, because after they prayed the place was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the prayer was answered.
The part that GOT my attention recently is the verse directly before, and directly after the one I’ve been praying. It goes like this… "and enable your servants to speak your WORD with great boldness….." and afterwards, " and they spoke the WORD of God boldly." In other words… PUT MYSELF OUT THERE… no matter the risks, no matter the threats, no matter the clucking tongues, no matter the potential for misunderstanding, no matter the controversy. Speak the WORD of God BOLDLY.
For me, that means die to self protection……. It means die to the need to be accepted by my peers. It means I can’t cower in the corner. I wanted God to stretch forth his hand, while I remained cowardly and silent and uncertain, while I muttered silent prayers unseen and unheard by those whose approval and respect I crave.
I have expanded my prayer to include the "enable your servant" part, when I have the courage, and I take it back and go back to cowering when I don’t……. I’m on a journey…… pray with me… if you dare…..
posted by toomanywhatifs at
12:49 PM
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