Do you struggle when you pray? A beginner or even a seasoned person sometimes doesn’t know where to start praying. You may lose focus easily or just struggle with praying altogether. Praying can be intimidating for some. So I want to share with you a method called the A.C.T.S. method. This method will guarantee to help you during your prayer time.
WHAT IS THE A.C.T.S. PRAYER METHOD
This method of prayer serves as an outline or a guide for prayer. The acronym A.C.T.S. stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. This model of prayer lets you first approach God with adoration and reverence for him, and then you repent of your sins (confession), next you express your gratitude to him for all he has done (thanksgiving), and finally, you submit your requests to him (supplication).
ADORATION (Praise Him)
"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name" (Matthew 6: 9)
First, you should start out by praising God. Praising him allows you to get your focus and attention on him and not on the things of this world. It should be all about him and less about you. Prayers can be very powerful when you choose to praise God. And if you don’t know where to start with praising him I suggest Psalms 23 as your model prayer. Just pray the whole Psalms back to the Lord.
CONFESSION (Admit to Him)
"Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us" (Matthew 6: 12)
This is where you would confess your heart to the Lord and prepare your heart to receive his words. Tell God you are sorry for where you have fallen short in your daily walk with him. Even if you think you have done nothing wrong you still need to confess and ask him what those sins are if any, so you can repent of them.
THANKSGIVING (Thank Him)
Next, you should thank God for all he has done for you. Take a minute and count all your blessings. This shifts your focus on Him and not on your circumstances. The focus should be not on what you don’t have but on what you do have. And great way to help you to stay focused on being thankful is to purchase my gratitude bundle.
In this bundle:
*Enjoy some gratitude activities (Perfect for kids!)
*Learn gratitude affirmations to use throughout your day
*Learn fun ways to show gratitude with a gratitude calendar
*Learn more gratitude with daily journal prompts
*Learn what the bible says about gratitude
Click the link below to learn more and to purchase my bundle!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1332045368/christian-gratitude-journal-printable
SUPPLICATION (Ask Him)
"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6: 11)
Finally, this is where you ask the Lord specifically for your requests and share with him what’s in your heart. Pray for the needs of others and ask the Lord to encourage, convict, and soften your heart so you can hear and understand him better.
CONCLUSION
I hope that you try this method and that it works for you. Let me know in the comments below whether you have tried this method out before or whether it’s new to you.
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That’s the method I’ve used for many years. Thank you for sharing it. There is so much more to prayer than just asking.
I agree, God wants so much more from us than just asking him for things. He wants a relationship with us. Thank you for commenting!