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Friday, June 17, 2011

ACTS

Happy Friday! Today's post is a little deep. Know before reading this post was written based on my personal beliefs, choices and opinions.

I play many roles in my life- wife, sister, daughter, puppy mama, employee, but first and foremost the most important role I play is a servant of Christ. Being a Christian is the core of my existence and the foundation of my marriage. Some people shy away from talking about religious beliefs but it is what makes me who I am and I am proud of it. My husband and I have friends from all walks of life and all religious backgrounds whom we love very much so please note this is not a "yay Christianity and boo everything else" post :-).

Prayer has been such a wonderful thing in my life and it wasn't until I became an adult that I saw how powerful it can be. I thought I would share an awesome prayer model that helps me have richer, more valuable, and deeper conversations with God. 

Jon and I joined a small group focusing on married life and building a foundation for a successful marriage about 2 months before our wedding. For more information, check this post. Our leader shared the ACTS pattern as a way to talk with God and I have used this acronym ever since (I can't remember the exact book she shared but there is tons of information on the good old world wide web, I got the below information from this site). So here it goes...

Adoration- Begin the prayer by adoring God. Praise and worship HIM. This is a time for telling God what He means to you and how much you love Him. This is not the same as Thanksgiving where you thank God for all He has done, but a time to tell God how magnificent/holy/glorious He is, to focus solely on Him, to tell Him all the wondrous beautiful things about Him you love.

Confession- This is when we confess our all our sins to God. Unconfessed sin creates a barrier between you and God and can hinder your prayers. Begin by confessing your sin to Him with an apologetic and repentant heart. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness 

Thanksgiving-  This is where we count our blessings, thanking and praising God for all He has given us and done for us in life. You may begin with the basics such as family, friends, food, shelter, safety, jobs, health healing. Thank Him for hearing your prayers and for forgiving your sins, for His all-consuming love for you. Thank Him for His promises, for the glory of His handiwork, for His promises to you.

Supplication- This is also known as Intercession. This is the phase of prayer where we come to the Father asking God to supply needs for ourselves and others. Be specific in your prayers. For example, instead of asking for God to bless your family, ask Him to help your son focus in math class and to give his teacher the wisdom she needs to present the information in a way he can digest, etc. If you feel led to pray for a certain person but don't know exactly what that person needs, ask God to lead you in prayer. He will.

Supplication is the most common type of prayer...."God please make Robert Pattinson fall in love with me", "God please make Brad and Jen get back together", "God please make the Mavs beat the Heat". ACTS helped me to realize that all I was doing was asking for things from God. Give me this, can I please have that? Now that is not the kind of relationship anyone wants. ACTS helps me prioritize. It has strengthened the relationship I have with God and I couldn't feel more refreshed after following this way of prayer. 

Hey it may not be for everyone but even if after reading this post, just ONE person sees the benefit, then my work is done.You should also check out the website for our kick butt church, Gateway Community Church in Austin!

Cheers!

8 comments:

Chelsea said...

I really needed this today!!!!! Thank you! So thankful God led me to this post

Sarah B. said...

What a GREAT acronym to remember! Thanks for sharing this :)
(Popping over from the wiegands!)

Gina said...

Great post!

Kristen Thornburg said...

Great post. I posted something that was on my heart today, too. I hope people respond well to it and don't think I am shoving Jesus in their face.

karen said...

I love the ACTS model of prayer. My Moms in Touch group uses it. Friday mornings, when we meet during the school year to pray for our children, is one of my favorite times of the week. Thanks for sharing from your heart today! :)

Natalie @ NS Pottery said...

I definitely need to work on the first 3! Supplication seems to come naturally, but I know that having a relationship is way more than asking, asking, asking.

P.S. You are beautiful! AND Ernie is ADORABLE!!!! I love him :)

P.P.S. New follower!

Anonymous said...

I love the ACTS prayer! It's great for group prayer, too :)

Unknown said...

Wow!! I know this is an older post, but I came across it in your related posts thing and I'm so happy! This is just so incredible, thank you for sharing.

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