ACTS: A Pattern for Prayer

The Acts pattern for prayer is a great way to start praying and keep aligned with Gospel purposes. When you pray, start with Adoration and move down. Remember, this is just a guide so you can always go back to the top!

Adoration

This is praising God for who he is. Let’s not confuse this with Thanksgiving which will come later, this is a time where we will remember the wonderful majesty of “who” God is…this prayer is the kind of prayer that begins with “God I love you because you are…”  At this Adoration time, we praise God for who he is not what he has done.

Confession

This is a time of confessing the sin in our lives that we know is not pleasing to God. Let’s not think of this as a blanket confession time but let’s talk to God about specific sins we know with which we struggle. Take time to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow him to point out specific things that need to be confessed. As he brings those to your mind whether they are actions, attitudes, beliefs, false idols or whatever it might be just confess to him and agree with him they’re wrong. Allow him to cleanse your heart.

Thanksgiving

Now we come to a time when we want to thank God for what he has done. Like adoration this reminds us of God’s wonderful majesty but now we are thanking him for all he accomplishes in our lives and in the world. We want to begin our prayers with the words God I thank you for… We praise God for what he has done in creating us, saving us, etc. etc.

Supplication

As we complete our prayer time, we now come to a time of asking God to move on our behalf; asking him to do things for us, for our church, for our community and for our world. As we humbly bow before him we bring our petitions to his throne and he will answer. Remember to include your needs, the needs of your Church family, the world and the needs of others