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By: Pastor Horton

“Let everyone who receives favor pray to you.” – Psalm 32:6

There is much to pray about these days. And yet there are times we find it hard to put together a prayer. We want to pray, but we don’t know exactly what to say, how to say it, or what to include in the prayer. This was a problem that even Jesus’ disciples faced. That’s why they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

There’s a simple little word that can serve as a guide the next time you take a moment to talk with the Lord. It’s called ACTS. If you learn how to use the word ACTS you will find your prayers coming much easier for you. The four letters: A, C, T, and S, each stand for a different part of your prayer. We begin with the letter A. A stands for ADORATION. When we adore God, we are telling him how much we appreciate all he has done for us. In our prayer beginning we want to give God all praise and glory for being the great and wonderful God he is. We want to acknowledge that he is the King above all kings, and the great creator of the entire universe. Many of the prayer hymns in the book of Psalms are prayers of adoration.  We begin our ACTS by giving God the glory he deserves.

The C in our special Prayer ACTS word stands for CONFESSION. After we give God the praise and honor he is due, it is time to present ourselves to him, poor sinners. In the second part of our prayer we confess that we have sinned against God and deserve only his punishment. We admit that we have done things we should not have done, and we have not done things we should have done. Here we ask God to forgive us and to provide the strength we need to say no to the devil and his many temptations.

Our third letter in the Prayer ACTS is T. Can you guess what that letter stands for? It’s THANKSGIVING or THANKFULNESS. Here we have millions of things for which we can thank God. Truly he has blessed us with family and friends, weather and protection, food and clothing, health and happiness. And let’s not forget to thank the Lord for working faith in our hearts and for promising to forgive all our sins and to take us to heaven to live with him forever. Let us never forget to thank God for his blessings.

The fourth and final letter in our Prayer ACTS is S. This stands for a bit more

difficult word to remember: SUPPLICATION. The dictionary will tell us that supplication is the act of asking or begging for something. We have left the last part of our prayer to ask God for the things we need, no matter how small or large the request may be. Here we can ask that God would provide good weather for our picnic or healing for grandma. Here we ask for God to send his angels to watch over us on our vacation, or to help mom and dad pay the bills.  God has told us that he wants us to lay before him all our supplications.

The Bible encourages us to pray boldly and confidently, to pray about everything, to be persistent in our prayer, and to trust that God the Holy Spirit will help us pray. What great prayer help is ours! The next time you have a  quiet moment with your Father in heaven or lead your family in prayer, remember the simple Prayer ACTS of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication, and know that God hears, answers, and ACTS for the good of his children.