And now Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word. Acts 4:29
A young Christian confided to an older saint that he had a problem with patience; he had difficulty in being patient in his dealings with his family, other Christians, and with the people where he worked. He asked the older saint to pray for patience. The older man began praying that the Lord would send the young man plenty of tribulations and trials. ‘Oh, no,’ the young man exclaimed, ‘I don’t want trials and tribulations, I want patience.’ The older saint reminded him that the route to patience lay through tribulations. It’s the same lesson the early Christians learned as they had to deal with the Jewish leaders of their day.
Note that the disciples, even after mentioning the threats from the Jews, did not pray for the threats to cease. Perhaps they remembered how the Lord Jesus told them of persecution to come. They were under no illusions as to the future. They knew that conditions would require great courage on their part, and it was for courage they prayed. More important than safety and comfort was their Lord’s desire that the Gospel be preached and sinners saved. They had their priorities right. Have we?
When danger lurks and troubles loom, is our priority to find shelter or to find opportunity? We are so accustomed to freedom and security in our land that we don’t know the meaning of danger, at least not the kind of danger that the early Christians encountered. We don’t know anything of having a prohibition placed on the preaching of the Gospel, or the threats of imprisonment or worse for violating that prohibition. We have no experience at countering such opposition. In fact, we encounter only apathy and indifference to the preaching of the Gospel and to our efforts to witness for our Lord. We may still need to pray for boldness, but not in the same way as the early Christians did. We need opportunities, and the initiative to grasp those opportunities. There are places in the world where Christians face perils, persecution and martyrdom for spreading the Gospel. And God is saving souls in those places, more than are being saved here. Maybe we would be better off if we really did need to pray for boldness; maybe we would see more souls saved.
What do we need to pray for, to see more souls saved? And what do we need to accept, that God might work among us in saving power? -Jim MacIntosh