“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16, NKJV

“You’re my favorite customer now.”  That was the bold statement made by a King Sooper’s employee we’ll call Brian.  Brian declared this about me with conviction after I came through his line last week, but that wasn’t his first expression of boldness.  As I retrieved my groceries, I asked the bagger how he was doing.  It was a casual question, but it elicited a response that was anything but casual.  In the few moments it took for the customer behind me to complete his transaction, Brian shared with bold transparency that he wasn’t doing well at all because he felt under attack by God!  Brian’s boldness to share his heartache gave me a green light to open my mouth boldly too.  No, I didn’t try to correct his theology about who really attacks us in the scheme of the great controversy.  But I did offer to pray with him about it all.  At first I simply told him I would pray FOR him, but when I looked around and sensed that somehow all the customers and other employees had vacated every checkout line in sight, I went ahead and invited him to approach God’s throne of grace together.  In that exchange of mutual forwardness, I found that boldness doesn’t just characterize our communication with others but also our communication with God in prayer.  Could it be that our capacity to boldly speak about God with others is strengthened by our willingness to boldly approach the throne of God in prayer?

The experience of the early church reveals just that. In Acts 4:24-30, the believers pray in such a way that is not only preceded by the disciples’ bold witness for Jesus (v. 13) but also ends up producing even more boldness to share (v. 31).  In other words, their bold preaching is directly tied to their bold praying.  So how can we pray like that?

PRAISE BEFORE PETITION

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…” Acts 4:24, NKJV

When pressed by hardship, criticism, and even persecution, it could be very natural for our prayers to gush right from the start with all our problems and complaints.  Of course, we are invited to cast all our cares upon God for He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7), but the early disciples directed their thoughts a little differently when under extreme duress.  

Before moving straight to petition and plea, they focused their thoughts on praise.

One of the most bold things we can do when approaching God’s throne of grace is to put a hold on telling God how big our problems are.  Instead, our first expressions can look heavenward with praise-filled reminders of how big our God is.  Bold prayer starts with big praise, magnifying the realities, characteristics, and wonders that set God apart from anything and anyone else in this world.

PROPHECY & PROMISE

“…who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’” Acts 4:25-26, NKJV

The disciples’ initial praise swiftly shifted to a recitation of God’s prophetic word, which allowed them to frame their persecution in the light of divine revelation.  Turning to God’s Word in prayer can help us see that our present problems don’t catch God by surprise and that, ultimately, these problems can actually lead us to see Jesus more clearly.  Sounds counterintuitive, but let me explain.

The disciples could have been unsettled by the fact that the trusted religious leaders were so adamantly against preaching in the name of Jesus.  They could have waffled about their convictions and let the wishes of the more experienced Sanhedrin shape what they believed and practiced.  But instead, they were able to connect the dots between their present hardships and ancient prophecies.  And when they did, the light of God’s Word shed light on God’s Son.  In this case, the perspective of Psalm 2 led the early disciples to conclude that the religious leaders’ resistance to Jesus actually reinforced the reality that Jesus truly was the Christ (Acts 4:26a).  

Bold prayer gains bold perspective through God’s Word.  

And all this BEFORE petition still!  In light of this, here are some questions with which we can boldly come to God’s throne of grace when faced with our own difficulties:  

• Where has my present story been played out in the past story of Scripture?  
• How did God work through that biblical story to reveal Jesus then?  And how could He be working in the same way to reveal Jesus to me now?

GOD-FOCUSED PETITION

“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”  Acts 4:29-30, NKJV

Now comes the petition itself, but notice the focus of the petition.  The disciples didn’t ask for deliverance from their threats, nor did they ask for the removal of persecution.  Instead, they asked for boldness to keep speaking God’s Word with boldness and that God Himself would keep working through them to heal and make others whole.  They asked for the capacity and courage to keep doing what brought on the persecution in the first place!  

They asked for strength to do what was most needed for God’s purposes and God’s glory.

In the case of Acts 4, continuing to speak God’s Word and to be instruments of God’s healing in the world was what they knew would advance the Lord’s purposes the most.  But what would advance God’s kingdom purposes the most in the situations you find yourself in today?  When we come boldly to God’s throne of grace, what mercy should we really be asking to obtain?  Maybe the most bold thing to ask for isn’t our relief or convenience but for what’s most needed in order for God to be glorified. 

Friends, if we find ourselves wanting to become more bold in speaking the Word of God, let’s start with becoming more bold in approaching the throne of God in prayer — magnifying God, reflecting on God’s prophetic Word, and then asking for what’s most needed for His glory.