Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
We shake things to purify them. We shake the dust off the rug, we shake the fly off of our leg and we shake the snow off of our boots before we come inside.
We should not live our lives indoors, never getting mud or snow on our boots, but we must not track mud or snow inside our homes. We are to be bold enough to get dirty and respectful enough to keep our interiors clean.
There is a worldly boldness that walks indoors with dirty shoes. It doesn't shake the dust of the world off of it, but instead boldly brings it to the interior. But that isn't godly boldness. That isn't something you need to pray to do. That is the kind of sinful boldness that comes to us naturally.
The kind of boldness the disciples here pray for is the kind that gives them the courage to continue to go out, to mix it up, to get messy and to return home, ready to shake off the mud and the muck of their outing before retreating to the purity of the interior. This kind of boldness requires prayer. This kind of prayer is answered by God in shaking the world, knocking the dust of worldliness off of those disciples bold enough to enter the fray and humble enough to want to return to a honest home.
Hebrews 12:26-29
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
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