I learned to use ACTS as an outline for prayer not long after becoming a Christian, and still use it quite often in my daily prayers:
A = Adoration of God (what I love about him)
C = Confession of sins against God and/or others
T = Thanksgiving for God's blessings and promises
S = Supplications (petitions or requests) to God for special needs
Another acronym for prayer they listed in the book was PRAY:
P = Praise - praising God for his goodness, for our faith and for those whom we love and who love us.
R = Reflect - reflecting on verses in Scripture or readings in a devotional as they come into our minds.
A = Ask - asking or petitioning God for personal needs and for the needs of others.
Y = Yearn - yearning to be "at one" with God, for intimacy with God, to be more in love with God.
These might seem like rather simple things, but I am finding that the longer I have been committed to a life of prayer, the more I am relying on simple things like this. I always thought growing, or maturing, in the faith meant you would outgrow things like this eventually. Instead it seems to be just the opposite. Maybe that's why so many seem to walk away... because they think it should be 'something more.' I believe that is a tendency we have as human beings - rather than going deeper into something, we are always wanting to 'move on' to something else. Or maybe it's just me.
2 comments:
Thank you for posting. I am the troop shepherd for my American Heritage Girls troop.
I was asked by the troop leader to give a short lesson on praying. The younger ones are comfortable praying out loud while the older girls are rather shy! She thinks if I give a short lesson more will volunteer to pray.
I am familiar with the ACTS acronym but wanted to use PRAY.
This is good I like the PRAY method. Thanks for sharing.
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