Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. (Acts 4:29-30)
For our final devotional, we return to the passage that Martin preached on recently from Acts 4. Peter and John had been arrested for healing a man and then boldly preaching about Jesus in the Temple, upsetting the religious status quo. But a night in jail and some ruthless questioning and threats the next day had done nothing to quieten their passion. They rejoined the other Christians and, rather than resolving to keep quiet next time, simply prayed that God would give them even more opportunities to boldly preach about Jesus and that he would stretch out his hand to lift the game with even more signs and wonders.
The church in the West has been coerced into quietness for far too long. But the tide is turning. So let’s pray for God to stretch out his hand to both give us opportunities and confirm those opportunities with signs and wonders.
ME – Pray for a fresh boldness in your witness in the home, neighbourhood and workplace. Who could you invite to the Alpha launch in April?
US – The last of our three focuses this week is Baptism. Pray for a significant increase in the number of people choosing to commit to follow Jesus in this way.
OTHERS – Pray for revival. Many are coming to faith across this nation, but we can pray for God to do even more. May hundreds, thousands and millions come to faith.
Don’t forget the daily prayer gatherings: