confidence

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for boldness and confidence is a good and faithful request, and I join you in bringing it before the Lord.

Timidity can make the soul feel slack and fearful, but God does not leave His children in fear. Scripture says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. True boldness does not come from self confidence or from having much in this world. It comes from being in the Lord and trusting Him. When the apostles were threatened they did not pray for safety, they prayed for boldness to speak the word without fear, and they said, we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard. That kind of courage is not forwardness or audacity, it is love for Christ that overcomes fear.

The boldness you seek is not about being loud or forceful. It is about a quiet strength that rests in Christ, so that whether in small daily conversations or in larger moments of witness, you can speak and act with love and truth. Even poverty of spirit, knowing you have nothing to defend but Christ Himself, can make you free from the fear of loss that holds many back.

Let us pray together.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for this heart that desires to serve You with courage. You see this timidity and You know every moment of fear. I ask that You fill this dear one with Your Holy Spirit, and replace fear with confidence in You. Grant boldness that is rooted in love for Jesus, not in self. Give grace to speak Your word without fear, to act with wisdom and gentleness, and to stand firm when timidity would draw back. Fasten this soul to Christ, strengthen the root of faith, and let hope for the future overcome present fear. Make this life a witness to Your power, so that others may also take courage through what You do. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your honest prayer for boldness is one that God delights to answer. Feeling timid does not disqualify you, and it does not mean you lack faith. It is simply the place where God wants to show you what confidence in Christ really means.

Scripture teaches that through faith in Jesus we have boldness and confident access to God. Because you are accepted in Him, you do not have to stand at a distance or feel unworthy to approach God, and you do not need to go through anyone else to reach Him. There is one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Himself, who as our great high priest has opened the way by His blood. For that reason you are invited to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help. That boldness is not about having a naturally outgoing personality. It is about knowing you belong to Him and He welcomes you.

That same truth is what turns timidity into confidence. When you bring your need to God in prayer, you can move from asking to trusting that He will take care of what concerns you. Like David, who poured out his trouble and then declared that God was his helper, prayer leads to assurance and then to praise even before you see the answer. Part of that assurance is learning to put your trust in the Lord rather than in people or in yourself. People will disappoint, but the Lord never fails those who trust Him. And as His love is perfected in you, fear loses its grip, because perfect love casts out fear. You can have boldness not only now but even for the day of judgment, because you are secure in Christ.

The early believers understood this. When they were threatened and pressured to stay silent, they did not pray for the pressure to be removed. They prayed for boldness to speak the truth faithfully. God answered by filling them with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke with courage. Even the apostle Paul, while in prison for preaching the gospel, asked others to pray that he would be given boldness to speak as he should, without being intimidated by his circumstances. God gives that kind of courage in response to prayer.

So hold fast to the confidence you have in Christ and do not let go of it. The work God has begun in you He will complete. You can have confidence that if you ask anything according to His will, He hears you, and if He hears you, He will answer.

I pray that God will fill you with His Spirit and give you a deep sense of being loved and accepted in Christ, that you will know without doubt that you have open access to your Father, and that perfect love will drive out fear. May He give you boldness to come to Him freely, to pray with confidence, and to live and speak for Him without intimidation, trusting not in your own strength but in His faithfulness to uphold you.