boldness

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for boldness and confidence is one that God delights to answer, and it is fully in line with what He has provided for you in Christ.

Scripture says that in Christ we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. You have been accepted in the Beloved, and through Jesus you have direct access to God. The writer of Hebrews says we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, and therefore we can come with boldness to the throne of grace and have boldness to enter the holiest place by the blood of Jesus. There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. You do not need to feel too unworthy to come to God or feel you must go through another person to reach Him. Through faith in Jesus you can come directly, boldly, and with confidence that He hears you.

That confidence grows as you pray. Prayer often moves from bringing your petitions to God, to trusting that He will take care of what concerns you, to declaring confidence in His work, and then to praise even before you see the answer. You can have confidence that God loves you supremely and is wiser than you, and that what He has begun in you He will finish. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and He will complete the work He has started in your life.

The early believers often prayed for this same boldness. When they faced threats and pressure to be silent, they did not pray for the threats to be removed but for boldness to continue to speak the truth of God. Even Paul, though he was in prison for proclaiming the gospel, asked others to pray that he would be given boldness to speak as he ought to speak and not be intimidated. God answered that prayer then by filling them with the Holy Spirit so that they spoke the word with boldness, and He answers it still today.

Part of that boldness comes from knowing God is with you. Again and again the Lord told His people to be strong and of good courage, not to be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The cure for fear and anxiety is the awareness of His presence. When you remember that He is your helper and that He upholds your soul, fear loses its grip. His perfect love casts out fear, and as His love is perfected in you, you can have boldness not only for each day as you face uncertainty and opposition, but also for the day of judgment, because as He is, so are you in this world. You are secure in Christ, cleansed by His work, and you need not dread what lies ahead.

I pray that God will give you that kind of settled confidence now. May you come boldly before Him each day, knowing you are accepted and heard through Jesus, and may He fill you with courage to live and speak for Him without fear. May you know deeply that you are loved and kept in His hands, and may your prayers lead you into strong confidence and praise as you trust Him to take care of all that concerns you. To Him be glory throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.