Thursday Devotional (for 11/14/19) - Prayer for Boldness and Power

After Peter and John were released from prison, do you think they stopped talking about Jesus, as the religious leaders commanded them to do? And what do you think they prayed about?

Acts 4:23-24 and 29-31 ²³ 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… ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ 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.

I found it interesting that Peter and John didn’t pray for protection. Rather, they prayed for boldness and power for the sake of God’s reputation!!!

A couple weeks ago I was nervous for an outside meeting. I prayed for boldness to lovingly speak the truth, even if other people didn’t agree. I anticipated differences of opinions. It was hard not to think about my own reputation and what other people thought of me.

Where else do you and I need to focus on God and His reputation rather than our own? Let’s pray for boldness and power so His name is praised!!!  

Alice

Thurs Devo: The Holy Spirit before & after prayer

I’m usually very hesitant and don’t often post comments or responses on our company website, but Tuesday’s “Poll of the Week” caught my attention. I knew the question targeted innovation, but I thought one of my situations tied in and could also be used to give glory to God.

Here’s the Innovation Network question of the week and my response:

"What is something you've done that people said you couldn't do?"

“I was told I could not do several different things that eventually did happen. One was during my senior year in college when I still needed to complete an accounting internship. I was told I would not be able to get a real hands-on internship like I wanted, especially if I only had 15 hours a week of availability. I could work in the accounting firm where most of my predecessors interned. However, in talking to some of them, they said they just learned how to copy source documents.

I prayed about what to do and reiterated to my advisor that I wanted an internship where I could gain experience actually preparing tax returns. In God’s perfect timing, just before the second semester started, my advisor called me about a 15 hour a week internship at Fifth Third Bank, in their trust tax department preparing Federal 1040’s and 1041’s! It was perfect and probably led to my job at Deloitte after graduation!

Prayer, persistence and patience do work together to make the impossible, possible.”

After posting my response on Tuesday, I later remembered my short prayer that morning for boldness.  I don’t usually struggle to know what to pray about, but that morning I had. So, I was overwhelmed with amazement at the Holy Spirit’s work to guide me in what to pray and then to prompt me to act in answer to that prayer. I didn’t recognize all His work until well after the fact!!! The Holy Spirit was working before and after my prayer!

Romans 8:26        ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Yet again, I had experienced this promise fulfilled!

Ephesians 3:14-21       ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Alice