Friday, December 07, 2007

An Acrostic for Prayer

When my mentor Laura was teaching me about prayer, she gave me a great way to approach it. "Just remember ACTS", she said.

Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Adoration: Take time to worship and adore God. Praise Him for who He is. Maybe you can tell Him what qualities you love about Him (ie. His love, faithfulness, care). Maybe you can sing a hymn or song of praise. It doesn't really matter how you express your adoration, just that you express it!

Confession: The Bible says that it's God's "kindness that leads us to repentence". Allow God's kindess to draw you inward. See if there is any sin in your heart that you need to confess to God. Confess it, and ask for His forgiveness.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for the ways He has blessed you, for the ways that you see Him at work in your life, for His great love for you.

Supplication: This is just a fancy word for "request". Ask God for the things that you need. Make your requests to God. Do you need a job? Does a loved one need healing? Do you want to find a spouse? God wants you to be authentic with Him. Tell Him what you want.

I have so enjoyed interacting with my readers this month. I have loved praying for you, and I invite you to continue leaving your prayer requests in my comments section (anonymously is fine). I would like to ask you to please pray for my Dad, who is battling cancer. Please pray that God will heal him. Thank you for praying. God is listening!

3 comments:

josey said...

starshine--your dad is in my prayers. i will pray for his complete healing. also, i found an interesting blurb from an article online that was so encouraging:

...just praying, "Lord, let your will be done" may breed an attitude that limits what God might want to do. Would Bartimaeus have been healed if he had not cried out to Jesus (Mark 10:46-48)? Would Lazarus have been raised from the dead if his sisters had not asked Jesus to come (John 11:3)? Would the centurion's servant have been healed had he not gone to Jesus (Matthew 8:5-7)? What about Jairus? He fell at Jesus' feet and begged him to heal his daughter (Luke 8:41). Would that healing have occurred without his intercession?

and thank you for sharing the ACTS. i remember learning about this in a Sunday school class not too many years ago. it helps me remember everything i want to say to God...AND to listen, too.

i hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

Tracy said...

Thank you, Josey, for praying for my Dad's complete healing. I also appreciated the quote and the link to that article. Thank you!

Mrs. G. said...

I am praying for your dad...extra strength prayers. He is lucky to have you for a daughter.