OVERVIEW
During the month of April, we encourage you to utilize the ACTS paradigm to help guide your times of prayer. Each letter of the acrostic is designed to remind you of an element to incorporate in your prayers. Your prayers can be effective without using this specific paradigm. It is to be used as a guide to help you if having a framework for prayer would benefit you. You should seek to utilize the ACTS method as an aid to your praying, not a ritualistic formula.
Each letter of the word ACTS represents an aspect of what your prayer could include.
Adoration: When you pray, seek to spend time giving praise, worship, and honor to God for WHO HE IS, not just what he does. As you adore God, you want to think of a specific attribute or characteristic of God that is most meaningful to you in that time of prayer.
Confession: Scripture teaches that unconfessed sin can hinder our prayers. Therefore, as you pray, seek to confess specific sins to God. These can be sins of omission (things we should do, attitudes we should have, etc., but fail to do, have, etc.) or sins of commission (things and attitudes we should not embrace but do embrace).
Thanksgiving: We are repeatedly called to give thanks to God. As you spend time in this aspect of your prayer, make a list of 3-5 things for which you are most thankful for at that moment in time. Some things will likely always be on such a list. You will likely find that other things will seem to loom large, or larger than normal, as God works in your heart and life. As you give thanks, be sure to spend time pondering both the physical blessings from God’s good hand (i.e., your family, your home, the food you eat, etc.), and the spiritual blessings that are “in Christ” (i.e., your salvation, forgiveness, etc.; see Ephesians 1).
Supplication: The Word of God invites us to present our requests to God and to cast our cares upon him. When you pray, feel free to bring all kinds of requests to God. These may include issues related to your health, family dynamics, the salvation of a friend, or situations in our community and around the world.
PROGRESSION
The ACTS model is designed to lead you in a natural progression as you pray.
You begin with adoration, where your focus is solely upon God’s character and nature. As you reflect on God, you will stand in awe of God.
After spending some time reflecting on who God is, you will gain a better understanding of who you are, or better stated, who you are not. Pondering the greatness of God reveals the smallness of man. You’ll likely have a moment like the prophet Isaiah, who, when he caught a glimpse of God’s glory and nature, confessed, “Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Your adoration of God naturally leads to confession.
As you confess your sins, you claim and experience promises of Scripture like 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Receiving that forgiveness will naturally cause your heart to give thanks to God, which will open the floodgates of thanksgiving for the many other things God has given you. Confession leads to thanksgiving.
Placing requests before God’s throne is placed at the end by design. Having spent time adoring God in worship, confessing your sins, and giving thanks, you’ll probably find that your heart is prepared to seek God’s intervention and help.
A CHALLENGE
If we were to write out our prayers on paper, we would likely find that we spend most of our time on supplication. Don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing wrong with placing requests before God. Scripture repeatedly invites us to do so. However, we should seek to spend as much time worshiping God, confessing our sins to God, and thanking God for who he is and what he has done as we do asking God to intervene.
Place before yourself a challenge this month. When you pray, write down the reasons for which you adore God. Keep a record of the sins you confess to God. Make a list of the things for which you thank God during your time of prayer. Jot down your requests as you seek God’s involvement in your life and the lives of others. Make it your goal to have those lists equal in their volume. Make it your aim to spend just as much time in adoration, confession, and thanksgiving, as you do in supplication.
30 DAY ACTS PRAYER MODEL GUIDE
If you need a framework to help guide you through the ACTS pattern for prayer, consider using the following prayer guide. The month is divided into four weeks. Each week focuses on one of the aspects of the ACTS model. Certainly, try to incorporate each aspect during your daily times of prayer. The guide is designed to help you focus on each aspect as you get familiar with using it in the ACTS model.
