Praying for Boldness

Acts 4:23–31 Steve Rockhill December 14, 2025

Scripture Reading

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

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, 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.

For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

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.

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.

Opening Prayer

Oh, gracious God and heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for your word.

And again, as we come to this particular passage this evening, we ask that your spirit would open our hearts and our minds to hear, to receive this truth, to be encouraged, to be built up, to be challenged by your good news and the truth of your holy word.

And so we pray, Father, for your blessing upon your word.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Introduction

Well, the last time we considered Peter and John appeared before the council of the Jewish religious leaders, and we noted how this was a fulfillment, really, of the promise that Jesus had made to them.

Not only that they would be opposed, persecuted, and brought before councils and judges, but also that in that very hour, the Holy Spirit would make his presence known to them and would give them the very words to speak, so that they might bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The message was delivered boldly and with conviction, but the hearts of the religious leaders, unlike the crowd the day before, only grew harder.

And yet, because the miracle of the healing of the lame man was so undeniable, there was nothing that they could do, these religious leaders, nothing they could do other than threaten Peter and John, and then they let them go.

The Disciples’ Response

Well, as we see in our passage this evening, Peter and John quickly rejoined the other disciples to report to them all that had happened.

And certainly, we think about the rest of the disciples, no doubt, were praying for them.

Obviously, they must have heard that they had been arrested the day before.

And we can imagine that for some of them, rest of these believers, they may have been alarmed and even seized with a great sense of fear.

Because again, up to this point, there hadn’t been any public opposition to the apostolic preaching and teaching.

And certainly they all knew what had happened to Jesus when he was arrested by these same religious leaders.

So they would have been overjoyed then when Peter and John suddenly showed up.

Peter and John of course gave a full report and again they would have shared with their companions about the healing of the lame man, their preaching to the crowd that had gathered, the overwhelming response by the crowd, and as well as the protest of the religious leaders and their subsequent imprisonment and trial.

And they would have reported the threats and warning the Jewish leaders gave them as well, that they were charged and they were forbidden from speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus.

And again, Peter and John may have also even shared their response, that they were committed to obeying God rather than men.

And so it all would have been pretty exciting to hear their report.

And so the response, though, is what we come to in our passage this evening.

And so with their hearts united together, we see here in verse 24 that they raise their voice to God with one accord in prayer and praise.

And what follows on through verse 30 is commonly understood as a corporate prayer by the apostles and those believers gathered there.

And as we’ll see, it’s a prayer that really culminates in asking the Lord to give them even more boldness or even more confidence to press on in the proclamation of the gospel, even despite this new opposition.

The Prayer: God’s Sovereignty Over Creation

But as we see in the first part of this prayer, the disciples actually quote together from two Psalms, which they apply not only to Jesus, but even to what has just taken place with Peter and John.

Now it’s possible here that as they raised their voice to God with one accord, it’s very possible that they did so in song, perhaps even singing these psalms to God in praise and with gratitude for what He had done.

Well, the first psalm that they quote or allude to is in verse 24, and this is from Psalm 146.

Verse six,

Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Of course, this verse of the Psalm emphasizes God’s sovereign power and authority over all creation.

And in the context of Psalm 146, God’s power is being held in contrast to the passing weakness of human rulers.

Psalm 146 goes, right before verse 6, verses 3 and 4, it says,

Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth. In that very day his plans perish.

And so the power and the might of mankind is actually weakness in the sight of God, the God who created all things.

The psalm then goes on to point out that the man is blessed who puts his trust and his hope in the Lord.

And again, certainly this is quite fitting for what Peter and John just endured.

If they would have trusted in themselves to defend themselves rather than remembering the promise Jesus had given about the Holy Spirit, or even if they would have trusted in the mercy of the religious leaders and obeyed their command to not teach in Jesus’ name, well, they surely would have been swept away.

But because their hope and their trust was in the Lord, who was the creator of all things, they are protected and kept.

But there’s another way in which this psalm relates to the incident of Peter and John.

Psalm 146, verse 7.

Again, speaking of the Lord

who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry, the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.

And then in verse 9,

the Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and the widow, but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

Indeed, the Lord let John and Peter free from prison.

And he can then also at the same time confound these religious leaders who were confound because they were afraid of the people so they could have no reason to further charge these men and thus they couldn’t justify keeping them in prison.

And Peter would enjoy this liberty again in an even more dramatic fashion.

But for now, the Lord had turned upside down the way of these who had risen up to oppose the gospel.

The Prayer: Application of Psalm 2

But in their prayer and praise, they further quote from the first two verses of Psalm 2, which we sang earlier, verse 25 and 26,

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.

First here, note the assertion of the doctrine of inspiration.

The Lord through the Holy Spirit spoke these words through the mouth of David.

We know that the Psalms as well as all the scripture are breathed out by God and that are given to his people through the prophets and apostles.

Again, this is a great truth and is significant here because what David wrote nearly a thousand years before, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wasn’t only about his own experience as the anointed king of Israel, but at the same time he was prophetically speaking of the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, the disciples will demonstrate here that these words of David in Psalm 2 were actually fulfilled in Christ.

Psalm 2 speaks of the nations and the rulers of the earth rising up in rebellion against the Lord and his anointed one.

They’re seeking to cast off the bonds of God’s law and do away with God’s rule in their lives.

They do this by assaulting the king that God has placed in authority.

The one that He has anointed.

In other words, the anointed one is the Messiah or the Christ.

And as the psalm continues, this is surely vanity.

In fact, God even laughs from heaven at their vain attempts to thwart His Christ and to thwart His plan.

And it’s revealed in the psalm that this Christ is the very Son of God, the one in whom God delights.

In verse 7 of the psalm,

I would declare the decree, the Lord has said to me, you are my Son, today I have begotten you.

The wicked rulers of the earth stand in rebellion against God and they seek to destroy the Son of God.

And the psalm ends with a warning and a caution that these rebellious rulers should repent and should kiss the son to turn away his wrath.

Otherwise, they will surely perish.

Psalm 2 is a stern warning for those rebellious against the Lord, His law, and His Son, Jesus Christ.

And again, this is exactly how the apostles apply Psalm 2 in verses 27 and 28.

They say, for truly, after quoting the Psalm,

They say, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, so again, making that connection to the psalm, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, who were the king, it was the king and the governor, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

And so they apply it clearly to Jesus, acknowledging that he is the fulfillment of this psalm.

And that what happened to Jesus, even his being persecuted, his being rejected by them and his being put to death, even though it was by the hands of these sinful men, it was all part of God’s predetermined plan.

And in this the disciples take great confidence.

Look at the parallels again here.

The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together.

Again, Herod and Pontius Pilate were the Gentile king and governor who took their stand not for truth and righteousness.

But when they consented to the will of the Jewish leaders, they were taking their stand against the Lord’s anointed one.

And they both knew it.

They both had heard about Jesus and all that he had done.

Pilate really wanted to let him go, but he did not.

He caved to those rulers, to the will of the people.

And so the rulers, the religious leaders were gathered together against Jesus and against his Christ, again corresponding with the Gentiles and the people of Israel.

Again, these religious leaders.

And so they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

That is, they were against the Lord’s Christ, the one that God had anointed to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And all these raged and rallied against Him, even crying out with that bloodthirsty cry, crucify Him, crucify Him.

They plotted and they devised their evil against Jesus and they put Him to death.

And surely they’ll be held accountable for their sin and for the rejection of the Messiah, the Son of God.

But again, we see here that their sinful actions were used to accomplish God’s predetermined plan and purpose.

A plan and purpose that was revealed a thousand years before when David first wrote and sang Psalm 2.

Now for the apostles, knowing that the death of Jesus was a part of God’s plan, something that after the resurrection they now understood more fully, well this was a great comfort to them.

Especially since they’ve now been called and appointed to be the proclaimers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was that Messiah.

And the opposition that he faced, that Jesus faced, from kings and rulers, well, they too faced as the wicked continued to rise up in opposition to God, to his law, to his Christ, and now even his church.

And so this is all part of God’s plan.

Part of his plan, for his glory, and ultimately for the good of his people, even we ourselves.

And what a great encouragement for us as well.

And something that we ought to be mindful of in the face of opposition and discouragement.

Just because things look bleak and threatening, we need to remember that God is still ultimately in control.

That His plan and purpose is prevailing even in the face of fierce persecution.

And so this should bring us great comfort.

Because we know that chaos and evil don’t reign, Christ reigns.

And this certainly was the encouragement the apostles received as they now spurred on in their prayer as they reflect upon what Peter and John just endured and what they all know will come upon them as well.

The Request for Boldness

Verse 29 and 30,

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.

And so for the same ones who plotted against Jesus and threatened Him and ultimately killed Him are the ones who have now brought these threats against the apostles.

They’ve risen up against the Lord and His anointed one.

They have now risen up against the Lord’s people and those whom Christ has redeemed.

And so they pray.

They pray that the Lord would be more mindful of these threats, but know that they don’t pray specifically for protection or even for these rebellious ones to be brought to justice, which certainly would be fine for them to do.

No, but here, the focus of their prayer is that they, the apostles and the disciples, might be further strengthened to press on in the task that Jesus had given them to do, the proclamation of the gospel.

And so they pray that they might be able to do this with confidence and boldness.

Again, their confidence is going to be rooted in God’s sovereignty and in His unmovable plan.

They need the confidence to trust in the Lord in the midst of the threats and persecution.

And one way this confidence will continue to be strengthened is through the display of God’s power and might through them and through the name of Jesus.

That will enable them to work signs and wonders and miraculous healings as they had just done the day before.

These signs will not only give them confidence, but they also will serve to confirm to the people to whom that they’re preaching that the word they proclaim is surely from God.

Application for Today

Now we know signs and wonders and miracles are no longer God’s primary means to confirm his truth and give confidence to his disciples.

We have the word of God written and complete that is given to us.

We have the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit with us to strengthen us, to encourage us, to give us wisdom and even the words to speak in the defense of the gospel.

And we have the gift of prayer that we too can use to pray to God, to seek boldness and confidence, to press on in the calling with which he’s called each of us, even in the midst of great opposition.

But there’s one other important point to mention here.

After the disciples prayed, we’re told in verse 31, that the place where they were gathered together was shook.

As if to demonstrate to them that God had truly heard their prayer.

But having been filled with the Holy Spirit, note that they went forth and they began to speak the word of God with boldness.

We should pray for boldness.

For sharing the gospel and praying for opportunities to share the gospel and take these opportunities that the Lord gives to us to serve and minister to others in his name.

But the problem we often face is being bold, not in the face of opposition, though we certainly need to pray that the Lord would give us the boldness at such times when our message may be opposed.

But we often even lack the simple boldness in non-threatening situations.

Indeed, we sometimes even lack boldness to simply get up and go into the world and share the gospel.

And so, yes, we should pray.

We should pray that the Lord would be with us and give us the same confidence and boldness the disciples here at Acts 4 saw.

Friends, praying for boldness isn’t enough.

After we pray, we need to actually go forth and be bold in our witness and in our lives for the glory of God.

And we can do so in the confidence that God’s promises are sure and certain.

That He truly is a sovereign God and that His Word going forth and the power of the Spirit will not return void.

Pray then for boldness and then go and be bold to the glory of God alone.

Closing Prayer

O gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for this word of challenge and encouragement.

And we think about the example the apostles have set and what they endured, all that Christ endured.

And yet you preserve them in the face of opposition.

They trusted in you, they relied upon your strength and they were saved and delivered.

And then they, instead of turning and going, doing something different, they rejoice and give thanks and they pray for boldness to go and to proclaim the truth again.

Father, we pray that you would help us even now to pray for boldness.

Boldness in the face of opposition from those in the world, from those that we, some that we may know who are hard against the gospel or opposed to it and might make our lives miserable.

But give us boldness because it’s a life and death situation.

We have the message of life.

We pray for boldness to go forth and deliver that message of life to those who are dying.

And we pray, Father, that we wouldn’t just pray for boldness, but that you would enable us by your Spirit to actually go and be bold.

That we would take those opportunities, that we wouldn’t shy away from them.

That we wouldn’t be embarrassed or covered in shame for fear of what people will think of us.

But we truly pray, Lord, that you would give us boldness, that you would give us the words to speak, and that we would go, and that in the power of the Spirit, we would proclaim the truth of your gospel to those who might hear, and be saved, and be delivered from death.

We pray, O God, that you would so richly and abundantly bless us in this way, and that we, in doing these things, would bring all glory, honor, and praise to your holy name.

We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.