Press the Sustain Pedal

By Samantha Rodriguez

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31 (NIV)

If you’ve ever played the piano before, or at least observed someone playing the piano, then you may know what a sustain pedal is. The sustain pedal on a piano is located at the bottom of the piano and is used to help elongate the notes. I’ve seen people keep it pressed in order to drag out certain notes, but I’ve also seen different people press on it multiple times because of their desire to accentuate and elongate specific notes throughout the song. In short, pressing down on the sustain pedal helps make the notes travel longer. 

When thinking about this verse, we must recognize what its context is. The verse starts off by saying, “After they prayed,” which indicates that before their meeting place was shaken and they were all filled with Holy Spirit boldness, they had been praying (Acts 4:23–30). In their prayer, they honestly spoke to God about their situation, remembered His character, recalled His promises, and made their requests known to God. When analyzing this prayer, we can see they knew God’s power and His faithfulness. Out of this knowledge, they had a confident expectation in His answer. Whether He answered them in a way they expected or not, they had the unshakeable expectation that He would answer them faithfully in whatever way He so desired. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have prayed so boldly and they wouldn’t have asked for more boldness. 

This is where the piano analogy comes in. The repeated pressing of the sustain pedal allows the notes to continually be lengthened and accentuated. There is a beautiful cycle of sustainment in this, and it’s similar to their prayer for boldness and of boldness. Just as their bold prayer is what sustained their boldness, that boldness is what enabled them to continue praying. In the same way that pressing the sustain pedal makes the notes travel longer, praying with boldness and expectation makes our faith stronger. 

The question we must now ask ourselves is: “Do I pray with boldness for boldness out of an expectation that my faithful God will answer?” The answer to this question may help us see why our faith seems to grow dim or fade out at times. Expectant, honest, and bold prayers draw us nearer to the Lord, and in that nearness He strengthens and awakens our faith so it can take us farther than we could ever even imagine. 

Pause: Really ponder the question posed above: Do I pray with boldness and for boldness out of an expectation that my faithful God will answer?

Practice: Look at their prayer in the verses beforehand and (Acts 4:23–30). They honestly spoke to God, remembered His character, recalled His promises, and made their requests known to Him—one of those requests being for boldness. Imitate this prayer today!

Pray: Father, I’m sorry for the times I’m complacent in my prayers. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and boldness in order to be strong and unashamed with my faith. Help me remember that You’re my sustainer and because of that You can sustain my boldness and my faith. Thank You for that! Amen.