ACTS of Prayer

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Prayer (Matt 6:9-14)

One of the most famous passages in the Bible….the model prayer… given to us by the model prayer.

It’s such a good reminder of how we should pray both personally and corporately, but we often fall so short. Our prayers normally consist of… “Dear God, please help me and my family with x,y and z…”.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we are called for so much more.

When being more thoughtful with our prayers, Rachel and I like to use the ACTS model of prayer, which is very closely linked to The Lord’s Prayer. Many of you may already use this model, but for those that aren’t familiar with it, ACTS stands for:

A – Adoration: praising God for who He is… His sovereignty, His power, His love.

C – Confession: After you have spent time focusing on God’s amazing character, you come to realise that you fall so far short and you need to confess.

T – Thanksgiving: After confessing, you become aware of the amazing forgiveness that is found in Christ Jesus… and you are overwhelmed with thankfulness. This can also be an opportunity to thank God for all the other blessings that he has poured out into your life.

S – Supplication:  This is an opportunity to speak to God about the things pressing on your heart and your mind. This is left until last in the hope that after going through the previous steps the things that are weighing on our heart and mind will be in alignment with God’s will (Romans 12:2). When our will is in alignment with His, of course, in His perfect timing, He will give us what we ask (John 16:23-24).

This model of prayer allows us to have a deeper relationship with our God, one where we see Him for who He truly is and see ourselves for who we really are.

In our earthly relationships, when each person sees each other for who they really are, and when repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation follow, that relationship is deepened beyond words. So it is in our relationship with God.

May that be true for us all today.

God bless,

Adrian & Rachel

4 thoughts on “ACTS of Prayer”

  2. Pingback: Give More Time And Attention To Prayer | Bummyla

  3. As soon as I became a Christian I was taught the ACTS method. Although God does not require a set pattern for communing with Him we as humans benifit greatly from this model. It builds great intimacy in a small group if the ACTS model is used as each person comes before God in confession walls are broken down and true fellowship begins.
    The first book I read on prayer was, What Happens when Women Pray., by Evelyn Christensen. She tells of great break throughs in prayer as people spent time in confession to God with one another. And that even for a time as the Holy Spirit searched their hearts the whole meeting in the early days was spent in confession as people gave the Holy Spirit permission to search their hearts and to see if there was any offensive way within them.
    May a Spirit of prayer fall upon FAC in 2013

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