Prayer Keys - Boldness Series

After another wet night on the island, he was rescued. He asked the captain of the boat, “How did you find me?”

The captain said, “We saw your smoke signal.”

All things work together for good to them who love the Lord. Sometimes, grace to help comes in unexpected ways. “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence [boldness], so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need,” Heb. 4:16.

[At first, I mentioned this next bold request in our prayer meeting, but I did not plan to post it online because it seemed too specific to First Baptist Church, Everman, TX. Now, I think others will be able to apply it to their circumstances.]

Another bold prayer would be for God to use us to mold seminary students into the minsters God wants them to be [First Baptist, Everman, is less than ten miles from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, SWBTS]. This may not sound like a bold prayer. God has brought seminary students and students from the college at Southwestern here. They have opportunities to teach and preach. They have opportunities to make evangelistic visits and hospital visits. This is a good church for them to be in. So how is praying for God to use us to mold seminary students so bold?

Have you noticed I did not say we could pray for God to use Bro. Jim [our pastor] to mold them, but for God to use us to mold them? You may think, “Oh, I couldn’t do that! I can’t help mold seminary students. I’ll pray for God to use Bro. Jim to do that.” That is a good prayer. We should pray that, We should also pray bolder prayers.

Most of us in this prayer meeting are old enough to be parents or grandparents of these students. We have experience that can help them. When they have a scholarly insight, we may have simple ways of saying the same things that may help them.

One Wednesday night, Bro. Steve [our minister of music] said something about being 53 years old. I had an odd feeling about that. For the first time in my life, I’m in a church where I’m older than every staff member. I could not shake that odd feeling. Recently, it occurred to me why I felt so odd. The reason scared me.

I am aware of nothing in scripture saying we can retire from the Christian life. God may call us to new ministries and call new people to do what we have done in the past, but he does not put us out to pasture.

I am aware of nothing in scripture saying we can retire from the Christian life. But all my life I have heard about the wisdom of age. That scared me. For the first time in my life, I am one of those older people. For the first time in my life, I am responsible for sharing wisdom.

I’ve never thought of myself as wise. I’ve thought of myself as well educated. For 35 years I interpreted for deaf college students and sat in lots of college classes. I’ve thought of myself as well educated, but I’ve never though of myself as wise.

I’ve thought of myself as studious, but I’ve never thought of myself as wise. In my last church, as a Sunday School teacher, I regularly spent ten to twelve hours each week preparing to teach. I’ve thought of myself as studious, I’ve thought of myself as well educated, but I’ve never thought of myself as wise. Now, like many of you, I have a responsibility to share wisdom with younger people, including seminary students studying Greek and Hebrew and hermeneutics and maybe things I don’t know how to pronounce.