Boldness

I recently read a devotion by Ruben Job that asked why we do not pray for boldness in spreading the Gospel. Ruben pointed to several passages in the book of The Acts of the Apostles where the apostles and believers prayed for boldness to share the Gospel. They did not pray for safety; they did not pray for their opposition to be defeated; they did not even pray for opportunities to share; they prayed for boldness. This might only be a passing observation except we all know the explosive growth of the first century church. Job then asked the haunting question, “What is it you and your church pray for?” In my heart I immediately realized we often pray for opportunities to share; we pray that our opposition would be squashed; we pray for our safety; and sadly, we do not pray for boldness in sharing the Gospel. Next I recalled accounts of the Methodist Church in Africa which has experienced exponential growth the past few years. What I remember hearing about the Church in Africa is they are desperate and they are bold. Now why do you suppose the Church (including the UMC) is failing in the United States? We are neither desperate nor bold. Why is that? Why is it we do not pray for boldness to share the Gospel? As we continue our month of prayer & fasting, I would ask you to add boldness to your daily prayer requests. That is now my focus of prayer and my prayer for each of you: boldness in sharing the Gospel.