Throughout November, we will be praying for boldness in our everyday living. Pray God will:
• make us bold and courageous as we live out our lives in the world, so that we honour Him in every aspect of our lives
• cause us to speak to people we come into contact with and meet every day about our faith in God.
• help us to speak with people at our outreaches about God and how He can help them.
• give us His heart of love for people and for each other.
• lead us into ‘God-instances’ so that we have the opportunity to share our faith.
• give us wisdom and gifts of knowledge to say and pray the right things.
• cause people to be saved and come to church as a result of encountering God through us.
When we think of the early church in the Book of Acts, the one thing that stands out for me is the boldness with which all people spoke out. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and had a compelling desire to tell everyone they met about all that Jesus had done. Someone has said they ‘gossipped the Gospel’, meaning that their everyday conversation was about God. Sometimes we feel we can only talk about God in certain contexts or circumstances or that we must wait to be asked about God before we mention Him. There is no doubt that we need sensitivity and wisdom in talking about God, but we need also to pray for boldness so that we are not afraid and held back in any way. Our witness is not only through words (remember Francis of Assisi who said ‘Love God and if necessary, use words’), but we need to pray that God will help us to speak as well as to serve.
Another quote I have recently discovered from Francis of Assisi is this: ‘It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.’ As we live out our lives before the world, let’s remember that “God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20, The Message) To be a representative or an ambassador is a responsible job which carries enormous privileges. That’s the job you are really called to do! You may be called to do that in a school kitchen, a busy office, a variety of different outdoor locations or just in your own home or on the street where you live, but that is your actual job description, above and beyond any description issued by your earthly employer! No wonder, then, that with such a responsible job, we pray, as Paul did: “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19)