A prayer based on Acts 8:1-25.

<aside> 🙏🏻 Our Lord and our God, We acknowledge that salvation is from You. It is You who has chosen us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in Your sight. It is You who has adopted us as sons through Jesus Christ. It is You who has redeemed us through His blood and forgiven our sins. It is You who will one day glorify us. We worship You our God and Saviour. We thank You for Your grace and mercy. We bless Your glorious Name. And we praise You that our testimony is the testimony of so many people around the world. That Jesus is saving men and women, young and old from every tribe and nation, people and language. That all over the world the gospel is spreading and growing. That those who are lost are being found and added to the number that makes up the church of Christ.

Lord, we thank You that this growth is happening as the message of good news is told, not by professional preachers, but ordinary believers as the opportunity arises. We are eager to see this gospel growth here in this community and our number added to. We want to join in the rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents and puts their faith in Jesus.

So help us to be witnesses for Christ. To not be ashamed to speak of Him or to acknowledge that we are one of His people. Help us to stop making excuses as to why we can’t share the good news. Lord, please give us opportunities each day to speak of You, and help us to take that opportunity, even if it is at an inconvenient time. And give us a real willingness to speak to people who are different to us. To not see anyone as being out of bounds because we believe the gospel is powerful to save – that even the vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. We confess our fear of talking to people about Christ. We confess our unbelief and doubt that anyone will respond in repentance and faith. We confess our disappointment that in the past our message has been rejected, or those who did receive the Word have fallen away.

We pray for one another, that God’s Spirit will open a door for us to proclaim the wonder of Christ, to do it wisely and clearly, that words may be given to us, that we would patiently answer any questions people may have, and that we would do all this fearlessly. And we pray for those we come into contact with and who we speak to, that they would confess with their mouths, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead. Yes, that they would call on the Lord and be saved.

Amen.

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