Have you ever wondered what’s a good way to pray? Don’t know where to start or what to say? I’ve found the acronym ACTS prayer model to be a great guide for my prayers. I use it almost every time I pray.
The ACTS prayer model uses the acronym ACTS to stand for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
ACTS: Adoration/Praise
To start, you simply offer up praises to God for who he is. Think of things like his knowledge, his goodness, his love for you and others, his creation and sustaining of the world, or his active involvement in the day-to-day affairs of the world and your life.
GET YOUR FAMILY'S FAITH LIFE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Want to get consistent sharing Jesus with your family and know it's making a difference? This 6 Faith Habits to Consistency checklist will give you quick ideas to steadily point your family to Jesus' amazing love.
Try and stay focused on just praising God during this time. I find that I naturally want to jump ahead to other parts of my prayer, but by focusing on who God is, I am kept from jumping to what I want to see God do in my life.
ACTS: Confession
Next, move into a time of confession. Confess where you have fallen short of what God wants in our life.
Confess things you may have done even though you knew you shouldn’t. Confess things you may have done unintentionally. I often confess that I haven’t really invested much time in God, not reading my Bible or praying much.
Make it personal to your situation. Start out with acknowledging where you’ve let God down, truly repenting for these things.
ACTS: Thanksgiving
Then, move into a time of thanksgiving. Here is where you start to thank God for the blessings in your life and the way he’s working there. Think of answered prayers you may have seen, for the blessing of family, or even just for the beauty of nature around you.
This is different from praise in that it’s not just about who God is, but it’s about what he’s doing in your life.
Notice how these first three steps all put the attention, really, on God and who he is. They give us a right starting point for then asking our own prayer requests.
ACTS: Supplication/Asking
Finally, you come to the part where you make your personal requests known to God. I like to start with praying for other people in my life, before praying for things in my own life. (Not sure who to pray for? Read HERE.) This way, again, I’m focusing on God, then others, then myself.
By making the ACTS prayer model your own, you’ll have a more balanced perspective on God and your situation.
Have you found this or another aid for focusing your prayer time helpful? Share it here.
If you liked this post, read
- Why Prayer is Important
- Who Should I Pray For
- How to Pray Through the Lord’s Prayer
- My Prayer for Healing
You Might Also Like:
GET YOUR FAMILY'S FAITH LIFE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Want to get consistent sharing Jesus with your family and know it's making a difference? This 6 Faith Habits to Consistency checklist will give you quick ideas to steadily point your family to Jesus' amazing love.
GET YOUR FAMILY'S FAITH LIFE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
I love this acronym! I use it all the time. I have a little bit of a more selfish attitude so normally I want to jump right into ‘me, me, me…what God can do for me’, but this acronym helps me refocus and put God and others first in my prayers.
I also think this works in reverse for people who don’t feel worthy or comfortable praying for themselves. With this acronym they can put others and God first, but then remember to pray for themselves. I always say, ‘if you aren’t praying for yourself, then who is?’ I know this sounds silly, but honestly how many times do people say ‘I am praying for you’ and they get wrapped up in their busy life and forget. It’s o.k. to ask God for things for yourself. For example, ‘heal me, change my heart, bless me with a spouse, help me get through this, help me understand, etc.’
Adoration, Confession, and Thanksgiving are all easy to remember what they mean, however I find Supplication is hard to remember what it means so you can replace the ‘S’ with ‘Say a Prayer for Others and Yourself’.
Great post!
Thanks for your great comment Cameron! I really like your perspective and how you brought out aspects of our own fears in praying. I definitely agree that this is a great way to learn how to pray, to focus on God, then to feel comfortable beginning to pray for yourself.
Keeley, What a wonderful way to do a prayer. You are so good at praying that I love listening to you pray. Thank you for sharing tips that will help me get better at it.
I like your acronym! I often remember the CTS but forget the Adoration/Praise part. I miss you and your teachings 🙂
This is a great way to pray…my problem is doing it and tuning out all the distractions. Spending a moment praising him for his greatness, thanking him for his goodness, and asking…is easy for me, but the confession is the one I forget. I need forgiveness for not praying like this…often enough.