Death-Defying Faith (Acts 21:13)

Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
– Acts 21:13

What a verse! Paul is surrounded by friends who love him and care for him as he’s on his way to Jerusalem. And they’re warning him that persecution is coming, that there are people in Jerusalem who want to kill him. And Paul looks at them, and he says, “I’m ready. Not just to be imprisoned by them. I am ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus”. What do I to live ready to die in Jesus? And I’m guessing most people who are listening to this right now are not in Paul’s shoes. You’re not facing potential imprisonment or death for your faith in Jesus today.

Although I do want to lead us to pray for those who are in those shoes, our brothers and sisters who are facing that decision today.

Acts 21:13 challenges us to live ready to die for Jesus.

So I want to lead us to pray for them. And at the same time, I want to lead us to pray that if we ever find ourselves in those shoes or even in the shoes we are in today, that we would live ready to die. Because we know what Paul later says in Philippians 1, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”. That’s a win-win way to approach life. And the reality is, none of us is guaranteed to make it through the end of today. And so are you ready to die today in Jesus? Do you have such rock-solid confidence in Jesus and in the eternal satisfaction you have in Him that you’re ready to be with Him today if the Lord chooses to take your breath? And all the more so if the Lord puts you in a place where you have to choose between life and death because of your faith in Jesus?

Oh God, we praise You that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Jesus, we praise You that You have taken the worst thing that can happen to us, death, and You’ve turned it into the best thing that will happen to us, eternal life in Your presence. All glory be to your Name for transforming death by conquering it.

Acts 21:13 challenges us to live boldly for Christ.

And so God, we pray that You’d help us to live this way today. We pray that You’d help us to live with confidence in You. Ready to die, if that means just by natural causes or any means at all. God, that we would be ready today to see You. That we would be walking with You, longing for You in a way that death becomes gain, like Paul says in Philippians 1.

And God, we pray especially fir if we are ever put in a situation where our lives would be on the line for proclaiming Jesus. We pray that we would proclaim Jesus boldly. And all the more so when our lives are not on the line. God, help us to proclaim Jesus boldly today. Help us to share Jesus, especially in settings where we don’t have to lose our lives for sharing Jesus. And God, we pray specifically today for those brothers and sisters who are in these shoes. We pray You’d help them to be strong. Lord, we pray You’d help them that to live is Christ, to be confident that death is gain. We pray for death-defying faith in You over our brothers and sisters, even as we pray for that in our own lives.

A Prayer for the Dargin People

And God, we pray for unreached people like the Dargin in Russia. We pray today for the Dargin people of Russia. We pray for 625,000 of them, knowing that reaching unreached people is costly and there is much sacrifice involved with it.

God, we pray over all our brothers and sisters who are working for the spread of the gospel to people like the Dargin of Russia. We pray that You would give boldness, grace, and strength today to live in Christ, knowing that dying is gain. And we pray that the Dargin of Russia would be reached with the good news of eternal life in Jesus. Save them and thousands of other people groups like them. We pray all this according to Your Word in Acts 21:13, with joy, with gratitude, oh God, that You have given us life today in Christ and the confidence of death as gain. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.