No, I really didn’t make a typo when I put in the title. When we pray, we tend to pray what we think would be in our best interest. The problem is, unlike the Lord, we cannot see with eyes that have seen all the past, present and future therefore we cannot make the informed decisions that He is able to. Just after a man was healed, Peter and John were threatened by the religious leaders of the day to stop speaking/ teaching about Jesus. The apostles went and told the other believers:And hearing, they with one passion lifted voice to God and said, Master, You are the God… to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel before determined to be done. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and give to Your slaves to speak Your word with all boldness, in the extending of Your hand for healing and miracles and wonders to happen through the name of …Jesus. And they having prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:24-31 TIB (literal translation)
With one passion they lifted their voices to God. They were in complete unity of desire and thought... and that was not for their own protection. They knew the Lord’s hand was at work and His counsel done. So, instead of praying for protection, they prayed for boldness to speak out about Jesus which they knew would get them into more trouble, and yet, they still prayed it! They also prayed for the Lord’s healing, miracles and wonders to happen in Jesus name- and they knew this would also cause them trouble.
Yet, because of the unity and selflessness of their prayers in their serving of the Lord, the Holy Spirit filled them again, giving them boldness in speaking the word of God. Everything they prayed for was for God’s glory and God’s honour, not for a reputation as a ‘man of God’, for a book deal or donations to fund their lifestyles. They wanted the boldness to get the good news of Jesus Christ out to change the world- and they did.
Lord, give us the boldness to tell the world all about the real You!
(Even if we get in trouble J )