“Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
– 2 Samuel 10:12
What a great word of encouragement in 2 Samuel 10:12, specifically for God’s people at this point when they were tempted to be afraid, that they would be encouraged, be of good courage. Let’s be courageous for our people, for the cities of our God. I love this last phrase, May the Lord do what seems good to Him. May we be courageous with faith, with trust in God and his leadership of our lives, ultimately knowing that whatever happens is in His hand, and knowing that we can be courageous.
God, help us to be bold and courageous in sharing the gospel today.
2 Samuel 10:12 Reminds Us to be Bold in the Gospel
I just want to pray this specifically today over all of us as we have tendencies to be timid in our faith, or timid in following Jesus, or timid in sharing the gospel, or timid in putting God’s word into practice in our lives. Timid about what others may say about us. Timid about what others may think concerning us that we would just think about. We would remember 2 Timothy 1:7. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline, there all throughout God’s word here in 2 Samuel 10:12.
Joshua 1 Be strong and courageous for the Lord is with you. Meditate on his word, be careful to walk in it, and as you do be courageous. God, I pray for courage in my life and in the lives of those who are listening right now. We pray together that you would give us wise courage.
God, help us not to be courageous and foolish living according to our own ways. Help us not to walk in disobedience to your word. The last thing we want us to be courageous in our disobedience. But God, just as you say in Joshua 1, help us to meditate on your word day and night. And help us to be careful to do according to what is written in it. And as we do, to be courageous, to not be timid or afraid. Help us to live, to lead with good courage, trusting you.
2 Samuel 10:12 Leads Us to Pray for Courage
God help us to be bold and courageous in sharing the gospel today. God, we pray that in the opportunities we have to speak about your love for people through Jesus’ death on the cross for them. We pray that you would help us to speak the gospel courageously.
We pray that you’d help us to obey courageously, help us to do hard things. Things that may cost us walking in obedience to your word, with good courage, with good courage for the sake of people around us, with good courage for the sake of your church, with good courage for the sake of those who are without Christ and ultimately with good courage for the sake of your glory.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for Missionaries
God, we think about missionaries right now are serving around the world. Brothers and sisters who are serving in really hard places to share the gospel. God, would you give courage to them? Would you grant courage to our brothers and sisters in Yemen, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Saudi Arabia, in Somalia, in North Korea? Give them courage, O God. We pray that they would be of good courage in all of this. So God, help us to trust in you, completely in you with whatever happens in our lives as we obey your word with courage. May that be true in each of our lives. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
