In the book of Acts, the disciples pray for boldness. And the Holy Spirit gives it to them. They don’t pray for courage. They don’t pray for strength. They pray for boldness.

When I think of being bold, I think of audacity. Frankness. Clarity with courage. Something that stands out. 

When we put something in BOLD we want believe those words to be more meaningful than others. We want them to stand out and to be set apart from other words on the page.

When the disciples prayed for boldness, they asked to stand out and be set apart. Even if doing so cost them their lives. Or their relationships. Boldness is costly. It takes up space. It requires more ink.

Discipleship should be costly. It should take up more room in our lives. It should require more of us.

And while it does, it also doesn’t. It requires surrender. Which should be the easiest thing to do. 

There’s an adventure at Banning Mills that is a 100 foot free fall. Physically it is the easiest adventure they have. You just have to walk off the edge. The cables do the rest. But mentally it is the hardest. You have to trust the cables to slow your descent and stop you from hitting the ground. I couldn’t do it. 

Our minds fool us at times. We think we have surrendered but we keep coming back to the same way of thinking over and over and over. Surrender isn’t a one time act. It’s a practice. And in order to be bold,  in order to stand out… I have to surrender every day. I have to give God those things of the world that I hold onto even though I know I shouldn’t. Surrender is hard. But its also simple. If it were easy, everyone would do it. The disciples were right to pray for boldness. They knew they couldn’t do this on their own. They needed the Holy Spirit to help them let go and to stand out. 

May all your days be bold and may God fill you with the Holy Spirit as you surrender everything within you.

Until Everyone Hears,

Shannon

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