Reading your Bible for Today September 10

September 10: Acts 4:23-31

KJV Key Verse: Acts 4:31
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Devotion:
How many times have you used the excuse “well, I don't know how to pray, so I'm not going to”? How many times have you put things off because you did not know how to? How much work have you not done for God because you felt like you did not have enough experience? If each one of us was honest, we could come up with a whole list of things and times we have shied away from God's work just because we thought we could not do it. Or maybe we were told to go away and to stop talking about God!

There are going to be times when we do have to back off a little, but when we do back off we should not back ourselves into a corner and be quiet about it! Instead we need to go to where we know others will openly worship Jesus and to strengthen ourselves again! There is nothing quite like being beaten down by people who think they are in charge and have enough power behind themselves to make a difference. They will make you look small and they will probably not care about doing that to you either. Our response should be to go back to God for help and not to lie down and be trampled upon!

Peter and John had just been told to stop preaching about Jesus because that was undermining the authority of the people in charge of the Jewish church at the time. So instead of abandoning God's work, they went back to the Christians who were meeting and then gave an honest plea straight to God. Their prayer was meaningful and worthy of a response from God. They started by praising God for who He is: God is the only God, He made heaven and earth, He made all of us, He has shown His power many times on earth and His son Jesus Christ did come to save us from our sins. After that, their prayer was simple: “Please help us, your servants, to speak boldly about you!”.

God is more than powerful enough to make a universe... You asking for a little help for bravery to speak His Word is nothing compared to making and maintaining a universe! Ask Him, Always!

Points to Ponder:
How confident are you with your friends?

How confident are you to tell people about God?