God’s love working in our lives, gives us the boldness or confidence before Him in prayer.
For example, a child can ask and receive things from the parents by asking with boldness, knowing fully well that he is loved.
In the parable of the “prodigal son” (Luke 15:11-32), the lost son petitioned the father to receive him back as a servant, after wasting and squandering the wealth of the father. He acted with boldness in returning back to the father; and received even more than he thought he would get.
A father’s heart is always full of love towards his children. All that this father had been waiting for, was for his two children to be bold in asking anything before him that they needed.
The elder brother had been living with the father all along; but never received anything from the father, even though all that the father had belonged to him.
He was not as bold as his younger brother to ask the father for anything. He became angry that the father had shown mercy to his wayward brother.
The father told him in reply:
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”
Luke 15:31 NKJV
In the same manner there are many believers today, who love God and are very devoted in fellowshipping and communion with Him.
But they are not living in the blessing of their Heavenly Father, because they like this elder brother; have not been bold in asking God for their inheritances when they pray.
The thief who was crucified with Jesus on the cross was bold enough, to ask Jesus for mercy even before he died. He got what he asked for because of his boldness before Jesus.
The scriptures says:
“Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.””
Luke 23:42-43 NKJV
Our God relates to us in prayer always with love. All that belongs to our Heavenly Father belongs to us also. We just need to be bold to ask Him for them.
No Christian can actually pray for boldness without the love of God working in him.
There are many things that had been given to us through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ into heaven. We just have to take them all by faith with boldness.
We may not need to petition God for them. They are ours already based on what His word says to us concerning them.
By faith we can take healing, divine health, protection, long life and much more, based on the written promises of God to us in the Bible.
The depth of your love and your boldness.
For example, every believer has a measure of faith (Romans 12:3).
We do not need to pray for faith. But we have faith as long as the word of God keeps getting into our heart (Romans 10:17).
We just need to exercise faith as we are abiding in the word of God, for our faith to grow in us. The faith that is actively being exercised grows. The faith that is inactive will eventually die.
But our faith in God is ineffective without the love of God (Galatians 5:6) working in us, to receive boldness when we ask for it in prayer.
The scripture says:
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.”
I John 4:17-19 NKJV
Boldness is the inherent result of perfect love working in the heart of a believer in Christ Jesus. Just because a Christian has faith in God does not means that he is bold before God.
Faith and boldness are two different things. Boldness without faith in God produces wickedness in man. It is evil.
Boldness can either be evil or holy. Godly boldness works with our faith and agape love in approaching God when we pray.
As believers in Christ we do need both love and holy boldness in approaching God at any time.
You may be able to make all kinds of faith confession, but if you do lack boldness, your faith will never be able to yield the desired result that you are looking for in exercising it.
The enemy uses the lack of boldness in the life of a Christian to defeat him.
Our world today needs more Christians who will be bold before God – bold in enforcing His kingdom here on earth and bold against Satan.
The Body of Christ needs boldness (not just faith) in proclaiming the gospel to the end of the earth.
Boldness will give us the end time harvest into the kingdom of God.
We need boldness as the Body of Christ to be able to stand up in His strength, against an evil and crooked world.
Signs and wonders take place when believers in Christ live and act with boldness in enforcing God’s kingdom on the earth.
The bible says:
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,”
Hebrews 10:19 NKJV
It is the perfect love of God working in us, that gives us the boldness to ask God for anything and receive the answers.
Living in love and forgiveness gives us the boldness to approach God for anything.
No one can stand before God boldly in prayer, without living in constant forgiveness towards all men and in the love of God.
The elder brother in the parable of the “prodigal son” struggled with these in receiving his younger brother back into fellowship.
Beware of negative boldness.
As already mentioned, boldness comes in two ways. It is either of the Devil or of God.
A wicked man may be bold to do evil. But a Christian is bold to walk in righteousness.
The boldness of the wicked is evil and it is directed to create fear in people.
The boldness of the righteous man produces and strengthens our faith in God. It causes us to make exploits for God’s Kingdom on the earth.
What we need in our world today are Christians who are walking in holy boldness.
Those are the believers that the enemy fears most, because he knows that they are well informed about their rights and capabilities in God’s kingdom.
Solomon in his wisdom once said:
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Proverbs 28:1 NKJV
A wicked man is always afraid of nonexistent fear, but a righteous man is bold as a lion.
Thanks be to God that, Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
Believers who are bold take their cues from Him. No one can be like Jesus without following His example with boldness.
Jesus was humbled, but He was also bold in action. He could never have been able to do all that He did while in this world without being bold.
Being humbled before God does not means a believer cannot be bold.
Humility is not stupidity. Being bold in our walk of faith makes the enemy to fear us.
You can be as bold as a lion is bold among all the animals in the forest. The lion is respected because of his boldness.
Bold Christians are always held in honor.
Be Bold and diligent in God’s Vineyard.
Boldness will give us good result in what we do in the Kingdom of God.
But boldness will also cause the enemy to target you with troubles.
The good result of boldness comes with salvation of souls, healing, miracles, signs and wonders.
The other side effects of acting in boldness are troubles, oppositions and persecutions.
Christianity is never a bed of roses. You will be persecuted for your boldness to proclaim the Kingdom of God with signs and wonders.
If you are getting good results in preaching or witnessing about Christ, be on the lookout for trouble.
The evil one will resist you whenever you are acting with such boldness.
But thank God for the troubles, because it means you are being effective in advancing God’s Kingdom against Satan.
It also means that God’s hand is upon you.
Jesus said:
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NKJV
Apostle Paul was facing tribulation in Rome when he wrote the letter to the Ephesians.
There was only one personal prayer request that he asked of them, as he concluded that letter. He asked them to be:
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Ephesians 6:18-20 NKJV
Paul was not going to let the chains in prison hold him back from preaching the gospel boldly.
The troubles, opposition and persecution may come; but we must realize that heaven sees all of those as our crown of honor.
Great things happens when you preach the good news in spite of what the enemy is doing in your life.
Paul knew what opposition or persecution could be like from the moment he got saved.
He had been persecuting Christians before, and he was negatively bold about it.
But after he got saved the dice turned around, as he was persecuted for his boldness immediately after he got saved and started preaching the gospel.
Every Christian is called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. But to be able to walk in that calling of God with results, it’s important to ask God for boldness.
That was exactly what Paul received after his salvation.
Genuine salvation is always followed with sincere and bold declaration of the good news. You will testify of what Christ did for you if you are genuinely saved.
It is the enemy of salvation that will work in the life of a Christian to hinder him from testifying about Christ Jesus.
The evil one always uses the fear of opposition and persecution to hinder the testimony of Christ.
The scripture says of Paul after his salvation:
“And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.”
Acts 9:29 NKJV
You may ask the question about why the anointing was so strong upon Paul?
It is all because of the boldness with which he preached the good news. It brought the effect that, the religious people wanted to kill him.
Religious people do not like bold Christians. Bold Christians are a threat to their social hierarchical positions.
But if you ever want to get anything done in the Kingdom of God, you will have to be praying for boldness.
Again, when Paul was in Ephesus:
“And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
Acts 19:8-10 NKJV
Through Paul’s boldness at Ephesus the whole of Asia was evangelized.
No wonder he asked them to pray for him to be bold in declaring the gospel in Rome also.
The Ephesians had seen the results of Paul’s boldness in preaching the gospel.
Be very careful about the people that are praying for you or with you. The lack of boldness in people may rub in on your work God’s Kingdom.
Paul’s work at Ephesus came with a great price as well (read Ephesians 19:24-41).
His effectiveness in ministry was as a result of his boldness.
Boldness does not come in the time of persecution or opposition to the gospel, without our prayer for it.
Peter and John were once arrested for boldly preaching the gospel. They were brought before the Sanhedrin, but the bible says of this religious body concerning them:
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”
Acts 4:13-14 NKJV
They recognized the boldness of Peter and John, as the same kind of boldness in Jesus.
These two were bold uneducated men who were filled in the Holy Spirit, doing extra ordinary things that was shaking the city of Jerusalem.
The bible says they were released to go, but with the threat not to preach anymore.
This threat was meant to create fear and prevent them from preaching with boldness again.
But Peter and John reported what had happened with them to the other believers in Christ Jesus, who gathered together and prayed for boldness.
They prayed:
“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
The result of their prayer was:
“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:31 NKJV
They were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with more boldness and not timidity or fear as the enemy wanted them to be.
The early Church grew as they were scattered in the persecution, because the believers were going everywhere boldly declaring the Kingdom of God.
If they were rejected in one city, they just moved on to the next one.
When we pray for boldness, the Spirit of God will come and change the atmosphere around us for His glory.
There is no form of opposition or persecution that boldness in the Holy Spirit cannot change.
Paul and Silas were both jailed at Philippi for setting a teenage girl free from the spirit of divination.
The bible says:
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were loosed.”
Acts 16:25-26 NKJV
As they boldly prayed and worshipped God, the supernatural happened.
Do not allow the enemy to use fear to stifle your ministry.
Be bold in the Holy Spirit. Never cease to pray for boldness.
The opposition may be tough, but boldness in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ will lift you above it.
You will be amazed about how the Lord will deliver you.
So, stay strong and be bold in prayer and intercession, knowing fully well that:
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Proverbs 28:1 NKJV
Never give up! Your victory is sure!
