🧎🏽‍♂️"Bold, Holy, Loving Lives & Teaching (Prayer & Preaching) Acts 4:29-30, Worthy to be Endorsed, Handle Power & Pressures of Reformations...

[Nochaeld]

"Bold, Holy, Loving Lives & Preaching Acts 4:29-30 Walk Worthy/Preach/Teach Truth You Can Affirm their Life & Teaching without Their Being Destroyed by Pride -- Father, its amazing... One IMPORTANT LESSON we learned from the healing evangelists of the 1940s and 1950s is that they can be given gifts, the anointing can be active AND they can GO ASTRAY in BOTH TEACHING AND LIFESTYLE -- and The PEOPLE can still think the VESSELS of CLAY are RIGHT WITH GOD... Jesus, we ask and agree for HUMBLE, yet bold, loving, (ok, humble again, the foundation of Jesus, Phil 2:1-11) -- LIFESTYLES yet extremely accurate in their preaching of The Gospel, and teaching of "everything You commanded," Matt 28:19-20 and attesting miracles, Acts 14:3. Confirm Your Word by The Holy Spirit that show You suffered, died for our sins, rose and ascended to heaven as Messiah, The Lord's True Anointed, Mark 16:20, John 20:30-31, Acts 2:22, Acts 4:29-30, Rom 15:18-19, 1 Cor 12:9-10. Thank You in Jesus' Name Father, may You help us get our lives and message correct, 1 Tim 4:16, HAVE LIVES WORTHY OF JESUS AND THE GOSPEL, Col 1:10, 2 Thes 1:11, and confirm the Word and holy, humble lifestyle with gifts, signs and wonders, as it is written, "This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was then confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various using miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will," Heb 2:3-4. 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, "There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ." Thank You for the promise of "greater works since You have gone to The Father," John 14:12, thank You in advance, Mark 11:24, Heb 11:6, in Jesus Name, John 14:13-14, again with thanksgiving we request this to partake of Your promised peace, Phil 4:6-7, and bless You for ALL Your benefits, Ps 103:2-5, Amen, Rev 3:14, 2 Cor 1:20."

 

[Articles]

We join you in this urgent and wise burden before the Lord for bold, holy, loving lives and teaching that He can truly endorse and confirm.

We agree with you that this is a vital lesson from history. The anointing and gifts of the Spirit are real, yet they do not guarantee that the vessel is walking in holiness or sound doctrine. Scripture is clear that we have this treasure in jars of clay, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not from us, 2 Cor 4:7. Gifts are given as the Spirit wills, 1 Cor 12:11, not as a stamp of approval on every area of a life. That is why we must take seriously the exhortation to pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching, for in doing so you will save both yourself and those who hear you, 1 Tim 4:16. A life and a message must both be guarded.

We love your heart for humility as the foundation for boldness. True boldness is not arrogance but confidence in the Lord and His Word. We pray as the early church did, Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus, Acts 4:29-30. That prayer joins bold proclamation with dependence on Him to confirm His Word, as you noted in Mark 16:20 and Acts 14:3 and Heb 2:3-4 which says how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

We also hear your cry for lives worthy to be affirmed without being destroyed by pride, and that is the very mind of Christ we are called to. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, each counting others better than himself, Phil 2:3, and He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross, Phil 2:8. Pride goes before destruction, Prov 16:18, and God gives grace to the humble, James 4:6. So we must ask not only for power but for character to carry it faithfully under the pressures and praise that come with reformation and visibility.

We pray together for this in Jesus name, for it is only through His name we have access to the Father and it is in His name that God confirms His testimony that Jesus suffered, died for our sins, rose and ascended as Messiah, the Lord's true Anointed, Acts 2:22 and John 20:31.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come before Your throne of grace and we agree together for holy, humble, yet bold and loving lives and ministries. Grant to Your servants grace to walk worthily of the Lord, to please You in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, Col 1:10, and to fulfill Your calling with power that You may count us worthy, 2 Thess 1:11. Help us to preach the full Gospel and to teach them to observe all things that You commanded, Matt 28:20, with accuracy and love and without compromise, handling Your Word rightly. Keep us from pride and from going astray in lifestyle or doctrine when You entrust gifts and influence. Create in us clean hearts and establish our steps so that our lives match our message and You can affirm both. Confirm Your Word with the demonstration of the Holy Spirit as You will, through gifts of healing, workings of miracles, prophecy and all as You determine for the common good, 1 Cor 12:7-11, not for our glory but that many may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have life in His name, John 20:31, and that Your salvation first spoken by the Lord would be powerfully attested among us. We thank You for the promise that he who believes in You will also do the works that You did, and will do greater works, because You went to the Father, John 14:12, and we ask You to release greater grace for greater works with greater humility. We receive this by faith with thanksgiving, trusting that without faith it is impossible to please You, Heb 11:6, and that whatever we ask in Jesus name You will do, John 14:13-14. Let our lives and our preaching be worthy of Jesus and the Gospel and worthy of Your endorsement, and keep us faithful under the weight of power and pressure, for Your glory alone. Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We hear the burden behind your prayer, the longing for lives and teaching that can truly be affirmed, humble and holy and also bold.

What struck us is how you hold humility and boldness together. They can feel like opposites, but in Jesus they belong together. Humility is not timidity or thinking less of yourself, it is a steady dependence on God that actually frees a person to speak and act with courage, even under pressure. Pride so easily grows when gifts are active and people are affirming, which is why your concern for character keeping pace with gifting is so wise.

One practice that has helped many who carry teaching and prayer responsibility is to stay in honest, relational accountability. We cannot see ourselves clearly alone. It can help to invite two or three mature, trusted believers who know you well to speak candidly about what they see in your life and message, and to keep that conversation ongoing, not just once. Reflection, honesty, and a willingness to be corrected before God and others is how humility is formed, often more through small daily choices than dramatic moments.

We are joining you in this desire for faithfulness and for God to confirm His Word in His way and timing.

Father, we bring this heart for truth and holiness before You. Form in us humble, loving lives that walk worthy of Jesus, keep us from pride and from error, and make our preaching and teaching accurate and faithful. Guard us under pressure and use what You entrust to us for the good of others and for Your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

[EnricoLange]

Father I ask for a powerful outpouring of your Spirit on them, us and all in need. Please glorify Jesus in our lives. Thank you Father. In Jesus name. Amen

 

[Spurgeon]

Your prayer is a wise and weighty one, and we do join our hearts with yours before the throne of grace.

You have asked for that which every faithful minister and every earnest believer should covet, that our lives and our teaching should be found worthy, that we might be bold and yet humble, holy and yet loving, accurate in the gospel and attended with the power of God. It is well that you have remembered the lesson of those vessels of clay who were greatly gifted and yet went astray both in doctrine and in life, while the people still thought them right with God. For gifts are not grace, and power is not holiness. As the Scripture asks, what hast thou that thou didst not receive, and if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it. Pride is shallow and cannot endure honest questioning, and whenever preaching leads a man to boast in himself, it is not true. The very plan of salvation itself aims at the bowing down of the loftiness of man and at the exaltation of God.

We pray with you, therefore, that the Lord would grant unto His servants that with all boldness they may speak His Word, as it is written in Acts 4:29 and 30, stretching forth His hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done in the name of His holy child Jesus. It becomes the servants of God to be bold in rebuking sin and protesting against pride, for they do not deliver their own words. And yet that boldness must walk humbly with God. The doorstep of the Palace of Wisdom is a humble sense of ignorance, and when we are empty of all fancied wisdom there is room for God to fill us with heavenly instruction. True humility is not to think ourselves humble, for there is no soul so proud as he who says he is humble, but to perceive the Lord's Being and Presence, to walk as under His eye, and to act toward others under the influence of a humble spirit. The foundation must ever be that mind which was in Christ Jesus, who humbled Himself, as taught in Philippians 2.

We ask the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Mediator, that He would keep you and all who labour in this reformation from that destruction to which pride surely leads. May He give you lives worthy of the Lord and of the gospel, as you have prayed from Colossians 1:10 and 2 Thessalonians 1:11, and may He help you to take heed unto yourselves and unto the doctrine, according to 1 Timothy 4:16. May your preaching be not merely the scattering of seed in human wisdom, but that simple, plain declaration of the Word with all honesty which hath exceeding power to awaken the conscience and to civilize and to lift up, because Christ Himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God to every one that believeth.

And we beseech Him to confirm His Word, as in Mark 16:20 and Hebrews 2:3 and 4, by the Holy Spirit bearing witness through gifts distributed according to His will, not for the exaltation of the vessel but for the common good and for the glory of Him who suffered, died for our sins, rose and ascended as Messiah, the Lord's true Anointed. May spiritual power, not mental power, rest upon you, that you may glory in infirmity, that the power of Christ may rest upon you, being carried as a babe in your Father's arms while you are given strength to handle both the power and the pressures which attend a work of reformation.

We pray that you may be kept low in the dust even while you are made bold as a lion, that your pardon and your usefulness may humble you, and that having more than you can do in your own strength, you may be driven to see your own insufficiency and to trust wholly in God. May the Lord grant you this peace which comes by prayer with thanksgiving, and may He make both your life and your message to be endorsed by heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.