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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Go with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews, chapter 13. And we're going to look at something that is so important in the life of faith, because it's something that is to be evident if we say we walk by faith. What I'm going to minister on in this service needs to be evident in our lives. One of the things that my husband, along with other ministers, men of God, who have spoken about the last days, is they said that in the last days it would be the last day revival, would contain all previous revivals wrapped up into one. Then they ministered by the Spirit and said all the fivefold gift ministries, the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, they would all be operating at full potential power. And then another thing that has been ministered by the Spirit is that all nine gifts or manifestations of the Spirit would be operating at full potential power. The gift of faith, the working of miracles, healings, the gifts of healings, all nine of the manifestations of the Spirit. Now, the power is the power of the Holy Ghost, of course, is here. The power of the Holy Ghost is on the inside of us. But if we don't respond right to that power, the power won't have its full expression that it should. And so today we're going to talk about something that is so important to that flow of power, and that's boldness. Power is God's part, but boldness is our part that God can have his power present, ready to meet the needs of people. But if we as believers are not bold enough to act on that power, that power will not get ministered as it ought to the lives of people. And so we're going to talk about that, because when we talk about all nine manifestations of the Spirit operating at full potential power, can you imagine what kind of boldness that's going to call for? And so we want to minister about this divine flow of boldness. Now, I don't want you to think that when I'm ministering and when the word speaks about boldness, it's not talking about your personality. This is not a natural human characteristic. This is a divine force, a divine flow that is an outflow of a person of faith, that when you have faith, it's going to be. It ought to be evidenced with boldness. And I don't want you to think also that boldness moves into unkindness, because sometimes people want to portray that they have faith. And so they think if they have faith, it's gonna come out boldly. And when you try to make that happen in the natural and there's no faith behind it, you just become unkind. There's. There's no boldness. It becomes unkindness. Because when people want to portray themselves as bold, but we're talking about a divine flow. We're not talking about a personality thing. We're not trying to appear to be forceful just so we can look to be people of boldness. But I want you to. We're just going to look at some scriptures in this service, and we're going to start at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 6. And this is the amplified translation, it reads this way. So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not be seized with alarm. I will not fear or dread or be terrified. What can man do to me? So notice it doesn't just say, when Paul was writing here, because we attribute the book of Hebrews to the writings of Paul. When Paul is writing here, he didn't just say, we say, the Lord is our helper. He said, we take comfort, we're encouraged, we are confident, and we boldly say, the Lord is my helper. So I want you to say this. It matters how we say matters, the force that is behind these words. And it has to be a flow of boldness. Because when you are bold, you are so certain, you are so assured. This is what boldness. I mean, no one can shake you off of a truth. And when no one can shake you, you become bold in that truth. So boldness means you're settled. Boldness means you're anchored. Boldness means that it is firmly rooted in you. And no demon, no opposition, no circumstance can pull you away from what you're believing. And bold boldness is going to be the evidence that the word has taken root in you. And so it does matter that boldness be a flow of our lives. Because boldness is evidence that the word is given its place in your life. And you have given it its place, and it's taken its place in your life. Because when you're bold about something, it does not matter who comes and points their finger in your face. Have you ever watched the press conferences of men who are getting ready to go into a boxing ring? They're trained. They have a trainer. They know the technique of their sport. They know their strengths. They know their weak spots. They know how to put themselves forward in their strengths. They know how to protect their weak spots. They know all they need to know to secure a win. But if they go out timidly and face their opponent, that opponent already takes, if nothing else, a mental step up over them and says, I can beat this guy. And this is what boldness does. Boldness is something, a force that flows on the inside of you that says, nothing whips me because of what's in me. And when you face situations like that, when you face opposition like that, you don't have to be threatening to people, but you're threatening to circumstances, and you're threatening to the enemy who throws those circumstances, because the enemy knows he can't shake you. He can't make you nervous. And this is what the Amplified says in Hebrews 13, 6. It says, I will boldly say, the Lord is my helper. And look at this. I like how the Amplified says it. I will not be seized with alarm. So when you're bold, you have no room for fear. You are saying, fear's not getting in here because I've already settled something in me. When you have settled the word in you, you come out bold. It's like that prize fighter who has already settled his technique, his ability, his training has already been settled in him, and he comes out based on what is in him. Our boldness is to be an outflow of what is in us, and so we can have faith for something. But if we don't boldly, if we don't have the boldness to act on that faith, it won't matter that we have the faith. Boldness matters. And so it says here, of course, where Paul said, I will not be seized with alarm. I will not fear or dread or be terrified. What can man do to me? So he's saying, not only does anything that could bring fear, not have a place in me, but he says, what can man do to me? Meaning this. I'm bold when men oppose, when the devil uses men, when men threaten me, I don't let men terrify me. I don't back up, because boldness makes my footing sure. And it does matter how we approach something. I remember after my husband went home to be with the Lord, there were eight big projects that we were left as a staff to have to complete. He had started these projects, but we still had to complete them. And one of them I had to go meet on different occasions. I had to meet with attorney, I had to meet with city people, I had to meet with bankers. I had to meet with people, professional people that I had no Experience with. But I walked in there. I didn't walk in there timidly. I walked in there knowing that I had a voice into the outcome of this. I didn't have a voice into the outcome because I knew banking or because I knew that the law or because I knew city codes. I had a voice because I had the helper on the inside of me leading me and directing me. And I was clear on what his help was. And so I was bold to go in in a setting that was very unfamiliar to me and sit down there and act like I belonged there and I was in charge and I was expecting the outcome that I needed. I remember when going into one setting with bankers and God told me, because we needed to, there were a lot of financial things that needed to happen. It was regarding our property and our building and stuff. And the bank was wanting to know from me, where are you going to get $400,000? I needed $400,000 to complete the building, one of the buildings here on the property so that we could get some refinancing done on the property. And they said to me, we want to know where you're going to get that money from. Well, of course, immediately, the pressure that comes with those words, they said, by tomorrow you have to give us an answer of where you're going to get $400,000 from. Well, if I knew where I was going to get that, I would have already spent it yesterday. I wouldn't have to wait till tomorrow. But I took time to pray in the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost told me the plan of where to access the money from. And it wasn't my money, it was the bank's money. It wasn't about getting a loan, but it was a plan he gave me to present to the bankers. Well, when we met with them and I went in there, of course, it's unfamiliar territory to me to be in that banking setting. They've got terminology and all the documentation and stuff that's very foreign to me. But what wasn't foreign to me was what God said. And I went in there with what God said very clear in my spirit. And that caused me and enabled me to be bold in the face of a setting that was unusual or unnatural to me, a setting that I was not educated or trained in. Because my boldness doesn't come by my setting. My boldness comes by what I know when I go into that setting. Because you're going to find yourself in settings that are unnatural to you. You're going to find yourself in Settings that don't fit. You don't have any knowledge about it. You don't have any education about it. It's foreign to you. It's a foreign setting. But it doesn't matter. Because when you have it clear in your spirit what God's word is for you in whatever situation you're facing, you can go into any setting bold, knowing that it's going to be the right outcome. And I went in there and I was kind. But see, boldness doesn't mean rude to people. Boldness does not mean boldness will never put you outside of the flow of love. So you have to understand, boldness does not mean being speaking to people in a way that's inappropriate. Boldness is a certainty, a confidence that comes from within. And when that's in there, you have to act on that. Now, it wouldn't do me any good to know what the Spirit told me to do in that setting when I needed $400,000 by tomorrow. It wouldn't do me any good for the Spirit to show me that if I would not boldly go in and address the people who were involved in making that happen, I couldn't just sit back and expect the Lord to do it for me. God was sending me to go in with his wor and speak to that situation and cause that situation to change. That's where boldness comes in. Because in the natural my flesh to be in that kind of a business setting, that financial setting, that was foreign to me. My husband had always dealt with those situations. I had never dealt with him. But whenever I went in knowing something, it didn't matter what situation was foreign or natural to me or unnatural to me, when what I was anchored on was what God made clear to me. Therefore, I could go in there boldly, knowing this is gonna come out right. And I don't go in there and just with a. I don't go in there with the wrong tone, with the wrong approach. Because when you sound weak, you don't win. You don't win. You have to go in there certain. Because when you're certain, the people that you're speaking to become confident in agreeing with you. And so, thankfully, God told me exactly what to do in that setting with a setting that was foreign to me. And I went in there and I spoke it. And it was so almost comical because God presented the plan, told me what to present to the bankers, and I did. And they said, no, we won't be doing that. And so I know this faith comes by hearing if they haven't agreed yet, they haven't heard it enough. So I repeated it again. Now, I said, now let me make sure I'm stating this to you clearly. I didn't say you're not understanding, I said, let me make sure I'm stating this to you clearly. And I restated the plan that God gave me. And I restated it a total of three times. And at the third time the banker heard me because see, they went in there already with their, they know their rules and their regulations and what they agree to as a lending institution. And when you present something different, they're not even listening because they've already settled what their procedures are. They know their procedures. So that's why I didn't get offended when they said no. I didn't fuss, I didn't try to go in there and take authority over them in the name of Jesus in front of them. I just restated what God said. If they're not agreeing, they haven't heard yet. So I need to keep saying it till they get past what they figured out and hear what I'm saying. So it took me three times of saying it before it dawned on them the picture I was painting for them before they began to think, oh yeah, if we do this then it will arrive us at the goal we're trying to reach with you. And so we walked out of there and they said, well, we don't know why the committee wouldn't agree to this. And I go, I turned to my staff member who had gone in with me and I said, the person I'm talking to is the head of the committee. So the next day of course we got a phone call and said the committee agreed to it. But see, it wasn't enough that God gave me a plan. I had to go in and boldly present the plan. And this is where boldness comes in. God puts faith in us. The Word puts faith in us. Whenever we are feeding on the Word, God is able to build his faith on the inside of us. It won't matter that you got faith if you don't have boldness to act on the faith that's in you. So boldness is such a key to receiving something from God because it is evidence that what God has said that God's Word is anchored and is a foundation in your life so you can move ahead. And so when you're bold, that's what you have to have. When things blow against you, you have to. Boldness makes you sure footed when things are trying to move you, boldness makes you Untroubled. When you boldly speak, knowing what God has made clear to you, that the outcome of this situation, the Word makes it clear, or the Spirit speaks specifically to you to make it clear to you, you go in there boldly. And yes, people will not agree. I mean, when I first went in there, those bankers did not agree with me. But that didn't. And that did not unsettle me because I was settled in boldness. I knew what God said, and I was just going to keep saying it and keep saying it till they understood what it is that God had said to me. And so boldness keeps you, makes you immovable. Boldness will keep you from backing up when it's time to move forward. And so many of the time, so much of the time, people back up. They have faith in them, but they back up because circumstances are pushing on them, because people are saying something that is maybe frightening them or intimidating them. But notice when you say, the Lord is my helper, you're unintimidated. You have no fear. You're not terrified by anything. And what can man do to me? Why? Because the faith that's in me, it causes me to know what God is doing. And in my boldness, I speak what God has said to me. And so it does matter that when God says something to you, it matters how you say it. You have to say it in boldness to get results. So I want you to turn with me, if you would, to Joshua, Chapter one. Joshua, Chapter one. And we see this setting. Moses has just died. Joshua has been promoted by God to be now the new leader of the Hebrews that had been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness. Moses led them out of Egypt and they wandered for 40 years. And they would not follow Moses into the promised land. So for 40 years, all they practiced is disobedience. All they have practiced is not believing what God told them. For 40 years, they have practiced that. Now you can imagine somebody may say, oh, it would be great to be the head of. Because it would be a congregation of several million. It'd be great to be the head of several million. Yeah, several million who haven't believed God. Several million who haven't obeyed God. And you want to be the head of that. Nobody volunteers wisely with that. That's something that God has to anoint and appoint. And that's what he did with. That's what he did with Joshua. He anointed him and appointed him, prepared him and trained him to be the leader of a multiple million congregation who had practiced for 40 years, disobedience and doubt. So this is not a coveted position. That's what I'm trying to say. This is not a coveted position that men should be fighting for. But God puts Joshua there. And in Joshua 1:7, God speaks to Joshua. And he said, only. Now, this is. I believe this is the King James. Only be thou strong and very courageous. Well, can I just tell you this? One definition of boldness is courage. So anytime you see the word courageous, you're also seeing the word boldness, because courage is a definition of boldness. So God says to Joshua, only be thou strong and very courageous. Now, notice God had told him, I'm gonna be with you. I'll go with you. You're not doing this alone, as I was with Moses. I will be with you. So God said this to him. But it doesn't matter that God says it if Joshua won't move forward in it. Boldness gets you moving forward in what God said to you. And so God spoke to Joshua and said, only be thou strong and very courageous. Now, just if having. If we could say this, God's going to do it for me. Well, God's going to make it come to pass. And so people will sit back and just wait. Then why is God telling Joshua to be strong and courageous if God was just going to do it all? Because courage is man's part. And it's not a human natural courage. It's a courage that comes from knowing God. It's a courage and a boldness that comes because you know what God said, and you know what God assigned you. And you know that God is with you. Therefore, you draw on what you know, and you move forward boldly. So it's not just. It's not just Joshua sitting back and just knocking all the enemies out of the way. They had to make steps to move forward. And steps forward call for courage and boldness. So God said to Joshua, only be thou strong and very courageous. That thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest so. Notice this. He's saying, to keep from turning away from what Moses said, you have to be courageous. You have to be strong to keep from turning away. What? To keep from turning away from what God put in your heart is going to take boldness. Let me ask you this. Some of you God has spoken to about starting businesses and the setting when God will speak to you about starting a business. Most of the time you don't have a year of capital up front. Most of the time you just got barely. You don't even have enough to really have a full month to function on. You just got enough to realize, I can't do this. That's about how much you got. You got enough that testifies to you, you, you can't make this happen. So God delights at stepping in, in those times and giving large instructions, large commands, and he will tell you to start a business. What about this? He'll tell you to buy a home when it looks like, oh, my goodness, where am I going to get the resources to fund a home? It doesn't matter what the resources say. It matters what God says. And it takes boldness to step out and start a business when you know you don't have enough money to fund it. But God said, takes boldness to step out and buy that home or make that step that you know in your own self you can't make this happen. But you know in you that God has directed you. As long as you have his direction, you have ground to be bold. Now, you don't want to try to step out without his direction because then you don't have any ground underneath you to be bold on. But when he speaks to you and tells you to do something, you have to step out in boldness. Because it takes boldness to, if you're going to start a business, to go find a building and talk to the landlord and say, hey, I want to lease this building for my business. And he goes, well, what kind of equity do you have? Me, I'm at, you know, all I can tell you is what God said to me. It takes boldness to go with no resources and lay hold of the next thing God has for you, because the resources come when you act on what he says. And we would all love to have a year's capital in the bank. We would love to have all that we need at our fingertips before we move forward. But faith doesn't need all circumstances to be as you wish them to be. Faith just needs what did God say? And when you know what God said, you can boldly go. We could say this where no man has gone before. I remember when God spoke to my husband and showed him the home that was the next home for our family. And my husband had the boldness to contact the owners and say, this is my home. God spoke to me and said that this is my home. Now, see, he didn't say that trying to put pressure on the owner, because that's not the owner's job to believe what God said to you. But he was bold to say and act on what God said to him. And when they said, you know, when Ed met with him, Ed said, but I don't have any money to put down toward the house. And God worked a plan and they came back and the owner had actually been healed in one of my husband's meetings 15 years prior. Well, my husband didn't know that, but God knew that all God needed was Ed to act on the boldness. Ed, act boldly on, excuse me, the word that he said to him. I tell you what, your future is waiting for your boldness to arrive. Be there with your boldness. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So we're talking about this flow of boldness because people of faith are going to respond boldly. You can tell faith will not take the place of boldness when we feed on the word of God. When we know what God said to us, it is our place to be bold. It's not God's part to be bold. That's our part to be bold. And when we know what God says, we have to boldly step up to what God said to do, because the flesh will want to recoil. The flesh will want to step back and just want things to fall into place. But sometimes you have to step out and of things and tell them to get in place. And if you don't have the boldness to do that, what God has put in your heart and maybe what you even have faith for won't come to pass until you boldly act on the faith that's on the inside of you. So I want to go back. We were reading in Joshua chapter one and verse seven, when Joshua here has to. Moses has gone home to be with the Lord and Joshua is stepping up as the leader of God's people. And God speaks to Joshua In Joshua chapter 1, verse 7, says, Only be thou strong and very courageous. Well, see, if it was all up to God, why would Joshua need to be strong and courageous? It's not all up to God. There is a courage and there is a boldness that's called for on our part that when God speaks to us, we boldly step out on that. And then we can keep moving forward when circumstances try to push us back. So God said to him, only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant, commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right. Hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. So being bold will keep you from turning back when circumstances push on you. Being bold will keep you from looking at circumstances and tucking tail and running running the other way. Because when God tells you to start a business, when God tells you to buy a home, when God tells you to start a ministry, whenever, whatever God tells you to do, you're going to face circumstances, you're going to face opposition. And that opposition is trying to make you turn. And this is what God said to Joshua, don't you turn to the right, don't you turn to the left and notice what he said at the end, that thou mayest prosper. So whether or not you're going to be successful is going to depend on whether you boldly step into what I told you to do. So he's telling Joshua, you're going to have to boldly step forward. You're going to have to be a bold leader to the people. And then in verse nine, God again speaks is continuing to speak to Joshua and he again restates it, have not I commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid. So the bolder you are, it's a harder you've closed the door tighter against fear that if you're just going to act intimidated when God tells you to do something, if you're just gonna speak that in weakness and be intimidated by people you may have to speak to, by places you may have to go, by things you may have to do. If you're going to do that from an intimidated position, fear's going to get in you. But boldness will keep fear out. So be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Now that's why we're bold. We're not bold because our personality is aggressive. In fact, people who have an aggressive personality have to double check themselves to make sure they're not moving forward in their personality. Because personality won't put you over in the face of circumstances when you're facing demons and opposition. Personality's not enough. You're going to need the word of God and you're going to need a boldness that comes from settling that word in you. Not just an aggressive personality is not boldness. Don't confuse the because boldness is a spiritual force that flows out. So we see this our courage flows from who's with us and not our own ability. Because God Said to Joshua, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. That's why he can be bold, because God is with him. That's why you can be bold, because God is with you and he's leading you. Now know this. Don't be bold without the leading. You have to have the leading. You have to know what God is saying to you so that you can be bold. But God is with you. He's the one directing you. He's the one leading you so you can be bold. And therefore you can stand up in the face of men in opposition and say, no, I'll not be afraid. And I'm not going to be terrified and I'm not turning back. I'm going to keep moving forward. Boldness is the fuel to help you keep moving forward in the face of circumstances. So it takes boldness to obey God's plan. Every single one of us want to fulfill the plan of God. And I say that by faith. I trust that about you, that you want God's best for your life, you want his plan. It's not enough to know the plan. You have to be bold with the plan. You know, you have to have boldness to carry out and walk out the plan that God makes clear to you, to you. Without boldness, we won't move forward into the plan of God. Now, I want to read to you. Go with me, if you would, to the Book of Acts and chapter four. We're going to read now to set the stage for chapter four. In chapter three, Peter and John were going to the temple to pray at the time of prayer to the synagogue. And when they get to this gate called Beautiful, there's a lame man that's there. And he was there daily. And this lame man asked them for some kind of contribution, some kind of financial help. And they said, they said, silver and gold have I none. That doesn't mean they're broke. It means that they just didn't have it. Have you ever gone somewhere and you didn't have your wallet on you? It's the same thing. They're going to prayer, you know. And so they said, such as we have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And the man gets up and walks. This lame man leaps and jumps and goes with them into the temple. So you talk about they had a good prayer meeting that day because they had a testimony to start it with, right? Well, that took boldness on the part of Peter and John for Peter to reach out and it just says, he just took the man's hand. It took boldness for him to reach out and expect by faith that the power of God would meet his action. See, this is when you have the leading of the spirit. You act boldly because you know power's gonna meet your actions. So that's why you can be bold. But it takes boldness. And let me just say it to you this way. The anointing meets boldness. The bolder you are, the greater the anointing will flow. The less bold you are, the less degree of anointing that'll flow. Why? Because boldness shuts out fear. And I tell you what, when there's no fear, the anointing can meet you. So then, not everyone was thrilled that this lame man was raised up and Peter and John were pulled before the religious leaders to give an account of this event. And so in Acts, chapter 4, verse 8, I want us to read together Acts, chapter 4, verse 8 through 10. We'll read. It says, then Peter. Because now notice he's being called in front of these religious leaders. They're not a friendly crowd. It says, then Peter, look at the phrase filled with the Holy Ghost said, see, it matters. You can be bold when what you say is filled with what the Spirit says. When you are filled, it will help you be bold. Empty people are not gonna be bold. It says, then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if the. If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him, doth this man stand before you whole. Now, that took boldness for him, Peter, to stand and say, the man that raised him is the man you crucified. Wow. That can't. They can't say, oh, praise the Lord, Amen. Because he has accused them of wronging the one who raised the man. Now, that took boldness. Don't you say. Now look down in verse 13 of Acts 4:13. Now, when they talking about these religious leaders who, Peter just put his finger in their face, that was boldness. That wasn't his personality, and that wasn't his offense with anyone. Offense was not going with a chip on his shoulder and pointing his finger. This was boldness out of the fullness of the Holy ghost in verse 13. Now, when they saw the Boldness of Peter. Ah, so boldness becomes visible. They saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. Meaning this. They had not had the scriptural or the scholarly education that all these rulers, that these scribes, the Pharisees, rulers, doctors of the law that were before them, you know, the chief priests, and all this they recognize. Now these men haven't been trained in the Scriptures the way we have. They have not had this background of training. But it says they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. They marveled and they took knowledge of them. Look at this. That they had been with Jesus. Ah. Being with Jesus turned their tongues skillful. Being with Jesus put a boldness in them to where they pointed at them and said, the one you killed is the one that raised him, that took boldness. They took note that they had been with Jesus. Notice this. They possessed knowledge. I mean, Peter and John had a knowledge that the name of Jesus would raise up the lame man. But until they acted on that knowledge in boldness, that knowledge wouldn't do them any good. You can know that Jesus is a healer, you can even have faith for that. But if you don't boldly act on that, nobody gets helped. It's important. Why do people not minister to people when they're out? Lack of boldness. Not lack of faith. Lack of boldness. And so we have to make sure that it's not just about faith. Because faith gives us the equipment we need. I mean, so that we can act on the Word. But it takes boldness to release the faith that's in you. Now, when we look at the definition for the word boldness, it means this. Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff. Listen to that. Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff. It's courageous and daring. Ah, I like that word, daring. Look at this. Beyond the usual limits of conventual thought or action. Ah, meaning this. Your natural thinking and your actions and would put limits. Boldness will take you outside those limits. And that's what a definition of boldness is. Beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action. Divine's Dictionary of New Testament Words says that boldness is the absence of fear. So now we know why it's important that we be bold. Because it's proof there's no fear in us. It's proof that faith can flow because fear is not there hindering it and polluting our faith. So we need to have not just faith, but a faith that's free from fear. And a faith that's free from fear is bold. Now, they threatened these religious leaders, threatened Peter and John and says, don't you preach anymore in that name? Well, they basically didn't say, yes, sir and walk out. They said, whether it's right to obey you or God you judge, and then they walk out, basically. In other words, we're not obeying you. That took boldness to keep answering, answering, answering. And that's what faith does. It answers everything. It just keeps answering wrong. It answers situations, it answers lack, it answers symptoms. You can have the faith in you, but if you don't have the boldness to let the faith out, then faith can't benefit you. So boldness will keep answering in the face of adversity. Now, Peter and John were let go. They went back to their company and they began to pray. All the people of their company, along with Peter and John, began to pray. And this is what they prayed. This is a portion of what they prayed. In Acts, chapter 4, and verse 20, it says, and now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. I love this. They didn't go there and say, oh, Lord, do something for us. They said, give us more boldness. It was boldness that got them into that situation. And he says, now give us more of it. Why? Because boldness will keep you vulgar, violating opposition. Boldness will keep you doing what you ought to do when everything around you is telling you to stop doing that. And so they said, grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. What are they saying? Give us a speech that's free from fear, that has absolutely no fear in it. When you have no fear, I tell you what, results are going to be very dramatic. Around your life, I've heard ministers ask this, and I like this. What would you do if you had no fear of failing? That's really what boldness is. It's refusing to be afraid that it's not going to work, that the business God told you to start isn't going to work. Your boldness. I refuse to have any fear. I refuse. I run fear out of my life. And the more boldly you act, the more it runs fear out of your life. Amen. So they said, grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. So notice the word has to be spoken in boldness, no fear in it, by stretching forth thine hand to heal that Signs and wonders may be done by the of thy holy child Jesus. So they say, whatever they're threatening us not to do, give us more of that. That took boldness to even address them. And now they're saying, just give us more of it. Why not? Because we're not stepping back. They're not going to God and saying, I can't believe you put us in this situation. I can't believe that we're getting opposed. We're obeying you. No, you know what they said? They didn't even try to. They didn't even say, change the people. They didn't say, change us. They said, just give us more boldness. What? More fuel to keep going. Just keep doing it. Just keep doing. Just keep doing. And then in Acts 4, 31, it says, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And remember, it said about Peter that when he was before those religious leaders, he was filled with the spirit. It says, and this place where they were praying was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Notice. And they spake the word of God with boldness. So what happened? God answered their prayer. They pray it. And all of a sudden, boldness comes. So know this. It's right to pray for boldness. You don't pray for faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. But boldness can come through praying. God will grant you boldness, you know, Dr. Lester Sumrall was a young man that got to be around Smith Wigglesworth. Now, Smith Wigglesworth was an English preacher that had phenomenal results. He had. There were well over 20 cases that were recorded of people raised from the dead under his ministry. And he. One of the things that was such an outstanding characteristic of his faith life was his boldness. Dr. Sumrall went there as a young man to visit Smith Wigglesworth in his house. And every time he would lay hands on Dr. Sumrall and bless him as a young man, you know, and Dr. Sumrall would walk out of there and he said, you know, I didn't have boldness until Smith Wigglesworth laid hands on me. Now, those of us who got to be around Dr. Sumrall at the end of his life, he was one of the boldest ever seen in my life. In my life. And I'm not talking about a bold personality. I'm talking about a bold characteristic of the outflow of God. I mean, it was just. He was. He was. There was absolutely no trace of fear in that man, there was no fear in his eyes. There was no fear on his face. There was no fear in his voice. He was completely bold. But he said, that didn't happen till Smith Wigglesworth laid hands on me. So we can see that boldness can come just by being around the right people. Doesn't fear come by being around fearful people? Yeah, you can get around people who talk fear. And I tell you what, it'll put some of that fear in you. You get around boldness, and it'll put that boldness in you. Get around people who are so clear and confident in what God has said to them. And get around their boldness, and you'll see them lay hold of and get results. It'll help you be in that same flow. So notice this. It says in Acts 4:31, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. So notice this to be bold, get full. If there's no one to lay hands on you, no one to pray with you about boldness, if you'll fill up, it will help you in this flow of boldness because you in fullness, all fear is washed out. All fear is run out. When you're full of God, there's no room for fear. So when you get full, all that's left is confidence. And boldness is simply the outflow of divine confidence. Again, I'm not talking about a personality. I'm talking about a spiritual characteristic that flows from who you are in Christ and the Word that's in you. Hallelujah. So the word is to be spoken in boldness to get results. So we see the boldness in connection with them getting a miracle of this lame man at the gate. Beautiful. I have to question, in the body of Christ, do we not have more miracles because we lack boldness, we don't lack power. We got the Holy Ghost. We have all access to all faith. We have the Word that is the wellspring of all faith. I think many times we it's not a lack of power. It's not a lack of faith. It's a lack of boldness to act. And I remember what one minister said, it blessed me so much. He was going out to preach and he said he was believing, praying, praying to God for miracles. And God spoke, I love this statement. And he said, God, I pray that there'll be miracles. And God spoke to him and said, step out. I'll meet you within them. So in other words, we're praying for God to give us something. And God's waiting for us in boldness to step out so his power can meet our steps. So praise the Lord. Now I want you to go with me over to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four. And we're going to see something here. I love this passage that this statement that Paul writes to us in the book of Hebrews, and he says this in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So notice this. He didn't say, let us come to the throne that we may obtain mercy. He said, let us come boldly unto the throne. It matters our approach when we come boldly. It's evidence we have gotten rid of sin consciousness. It's evidence that we are understanding who we are in Christ. Because you go to pray, and I guarantee you if your mind is not renewed, the devil will back you out of that prayer, that place of prayer. Many times he'll say, don't you remember this fault, this sin, how you're not this. You failed God at this. He will point to your faults, failures, weaknesses and sins to keep you from being effective in your prayer life. So the devil's going to use that on everybody. So when somebody comes boldly to the throne, you know what that means? They have stepped over those accusations. They have renewed their mind against what the devil's accusations would be. And they realize I'm blood washed. I'm not coming here based on my. My credibility. I'm coming here based on the blood. And when somebody comes boldly, that is a sign that they know who they are in Christ. That is a sign that they have put their foot to sin consciousness, that they're not going to back down in condemnation, in guilt, in shame. Because effective prayer involves boldness. If we're not bold, our prayers will make ineffectiveness. We have to be bold to be effective in prayer. Why? Because the devil's going to accuse you. He's going to try to hold you back. He's going to point to what you're not, to keep you from being bold in the presence of God. So when you're bold in the presence of God, you are showing God, I have stepped over opposition to be here in boldness. I've stepped over my failures, my weaknesses, my flaws. Another thing of boldness. You go to pray for somebody, the spirit of God may lead you to pray for someone, or you may know that someone is facing something. So you just take initiative to pray for them. Many times when you're praying for somebody, God will use the one praying to be their help. He will send you to go speak to them, to encourage them to call them, or maybe to. Maybe the person you're praying for is having a financial difficulty. You pray for them and God may speak to you. Then you give them money because God uses the one praying. Why? Because the one praying loves enough to be used. You don't pray for someone you don't love. That's why we're told to pray for our enemies. It keeps us loving them. And so when you're praying for someone out of a sense of heart, that's love propelling you in that. That's love motivating you. And when God sees love, he sees someone he can use. So God will never send you to minister to someone you don't love. And so when God sees you praying for someone, he knows you love them. Even if you're loving them by faith, so to speak. You know, you're putting down your own feelings and you've chosen to forgive by faith. And you're praying for them. And then God will say, I want you to go speak to them. I want you to go bless them. It takes boldness to act on what God tells you to do. There have been times when somebody was on my heart and I started praying for them. And in praying for them, God said, go warn them. Ah, I didn't want to in my own flesh. I was just praying for God to bless them. I was praying for God to help them past that difficulty they were facing. And God said, you go warn them. You go talk to them about this, that, and the other. Ah, the natural side draws back. That's why you have to have boldness to step over your flesh. If you don't have boldness, your flesh will stop you from moving forward in the plan of God. It'll stop you from moving forward in miracle power and healing power. When you operate by the gifts of the Spirit as a minister, especially we operate in these gifts by faith. But it takes boldness to call out. It takes boldness to lay hands on people. It takes boldness to say, what happened to you after I laid hands on you. It takes boldness to move with the Holy Ghost and to have the operations of the gifts of the Spirit. It takes boldness. Now, where does our boldness come from? Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 12. I want you to see this. Ephesians, chapter 3 and verse verse 12. Hallelujah. It says this. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence. By the Faith of him. So where does our boldness come from? It comes from him, who we are in him. As I said, it doesn't come from personality. If someone tries to be bold out of their personality, they will become unkind. They will offend people, they will be curt with people. They will step out of love. Many times boldness does not come from an aggressive person. Boldness is a spiritual force. Sometimes you can have a little quiet Grandmama, but when she gets in the spirit and she's full of the Holy Ghost, I mean, a boldness will come out in her prayer life that will just rattle the room. What is that? That's divine boldness to lay hold of what God says is ours. Miracles, healings. Our best year yet is ahead of us. But it's going to take boldness for us to move forward in the plan God has for us. I encourage you move forward in boldness. It belongs to you in him. Amen. Hallelujah. Well, I hope you're helped in this, stirred, encouraged. Because so much of the time we're waiting for God to do something, and God is waiting for us to boldly act on what's in us. Amen. Hallelujah. I remember one situation in saying this that I was talking about. When you pray for somebody many times, because that is a flow of love. And when God sees love flowing, then he'll use love to help them or bless them. And so many times God will use the one praying. And I remember years ago, my husband and I were at a certain church, a precious church, and wonderful pastor. I had such regard and respect for this pastor. I mean, he was a spiritual man, walked with God, and I was. We were in the hotel room this particular afternoon, and my husband had already preached several services. I had preached several services. And I was getting ready to preach that evening service, and I was getting dressed, and the word of the Lord came to me in praying for this pastor. So I started praying in the Spirit for this pastor. While I was praying, the Spirit of God said to me, go tell him to remove the men on his board. Well, I just want to pray for the pastor. I don't want to get involved in the board and all these other things, you know, like that's his business. I don't want to insert my foot into all of that. And so I said to my husband what the Spirit of God said to me. And he says, you ought to talk to him. So after the sermon, I sat down with him and I said, pastor, I said, today the Holy Ghost prompted me to pray for You. And while I was praying, God said, go to the pastor and tell him now. See, if I could say this. Just because you know something doesn't mean God is telling you to tell it. When God has wanted me to warn someone to go to them in a way that's going to bring correction, he has said to me, go to them. It wasn't me just realizing what their need was. That's not an instruction to go to somebody. You don't go correct people unless God tells you to. Just because you see it, you know, you have to be mindful. God did not put us in the body of Christ to police each other. And so God said to me, though, go talk to him. So I told him, you know, I'd been praying for him. And I said, pastor, I said I could miss it, but I'm just telling you, God told me to tell you to remove the board you currently have. And he said, Nancy, he said, brother Hagin has called me twice about that. And I said, okay. Which I was glad to hear. Not that Brother Hagin had called, but that I was hearing in line with what God had already been dealing with him about. And he said, brother Hagin had called me and talked to me about that. And he said, okay, I'll do it. And he said, would you and your husband be on my board? And I said, wait a minute. I did not say that to you so that you would put us on the board. I said that because God told me to tell you that I'm not trying to get on your board. My husband, he says, no, no, no, no. He said, but I recognize if God is telling you, you need to be on my board. So Ed and I were on his board. The turnaround of this was two months later, this man died unexpected, and he already had put the right board in place. That church is still going on. It's a beautiful church, wonderful church. If the board that had been there previously would have been there on there when he died, it would have destroyed the church. And I was just. See, it took boldness not just to pray, but to obey. The Holy Ghost is looking for people who will obey God and act in boldness on what God tells them to do. But let me tell you this. The motivation behind boldness is always love. Always love. You're not trying to be proven right. You go, you minister to people, whether it's an encouragement or whether it's a correction, you're ministering, it's all motivated by love. You love them. You want them to end up right. That's the only people safe to be bold or people who love. If you don't have a disciplined love walk in your life, you'll end up becoming unkind, trying to be bold. So God is wanting us to come boldly to the throne, but also act boldly on what we hear at the throne because it's going to rescue people's lives. So I was so grateful that we were able to help that church remain strong when there came a big change, a big transition in that season for that pastor. But this is part of. It's not enough to hear, see what if I would have heard that day in the hotel room that he needs to change his board, But I never said anything. It doesn't matter that I know, doesn't matter that I prayed for him. If I hadn't have acted on what God told my part to be, then the man, the church wouldn't have been rescued. So we just not. We don't want to just be bold to receive what we need from God. We want to be bold to. To obey anything God tells us to do. Miracles, healings, blessing, increase are all on the other end of boldness. Not just on the other end of faith, but the other end of boldness. Why? Because in boldness, there's no fear. So no fear in faith that's going to get results. Amen. Hallelujah. Father, we thank you. We thank you for these precious people, our congregation members, our partners, our friends of the ministry that have joined us today. And, Father, we pray as the apostles in the early days of the church, pray, grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word by stretching forth thine hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done in the name of Thy Holy Child Jesus. So, Father, we thank you for granting every one of us, not just ministers, but every congregation member, boldness to follow what's in their heart, follow the faith that's in their heart to act on it. Boldness to act. And we believe you for it, Father. And as we do, we thank you for lives that are rescued. Father, we thank you that it's love that will propel us forward, that we so love people, that we will boldly reach out to rescue them. We so love people that we will boldly reach out and safeguard people from the direction they're going. And we thank you, Father, for granting us that boldness. It comes from who we are in you. And we thank you for it, Father. We refuse to let our personalities limit us, but we step into the flow of the divine characteristics of God flowing in us and blessing those around us. And we thank you and everybody said Amen. Hallelujah. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings, share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of dufresne Ministries.