After being threatened and commanded to keep quiet about Jesus, the disciples met and spoke the following prayer.

And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30  Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31  After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-31 (NLT) 

When we face threats and intimidation, it is time to pray for courage and boldness.

Someone once said that there are no “closed” countries, only intimidated disciples. Satan will try to intimidate us into submission to fear with the threat of violence or some other form of persecution. What if those first believers had kept quiet after this warning from the Jewish leaders?  We don’t know how the Spirit would have handled that, but thankfully they refused to buckle to the pressure. Their boldness eventually cost almost all of them their lives. Jesus knew this would happen, but he called them to be his witnesses nevertheless. He is calling you and me as well. Will we be faithful to this challenge? We can start by praying for boldness to preach the gospel and witness to the truth. Jesus also wants us to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which provides us with strength and power to do the job.

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now...8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4-5,8 (NKJV)