Individual Prayer
What’s up? Thought I would give everyone a resource I’ve used for prayer. It’s not to be used as a “YOU MUST DO IT THIS WAY OR GOD CAN"T HEAR YOU!!!” type thing, but an outline to help you in your discovery of God through prayer. Check it out!!!
Individual Prayer
Individual prayer is to be personal and private. It is to be a time when you lift your prayer requests up to a Holy and Perfect God. It can be planned or spontaneous but it is to be constant. It should demonstrate a complete and utter dependence upon our God and maker. An easy acrostic for prayer to help us stay on track and not get distracted is A.C.T.S. This stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. It is based on the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle Paul’s teaching (Matt 6:9-13, Phil 4:6) and is one I often use. Let us break these down individually and discuss their meaning.
Adoration- We should approach a holy and just God with a heart of utter devotion and praise for His awesome power (Matt 6: 9). Consider this: He alone created the Heavens and the Earth (Gen 1:1) and He alone is worthy to be praised Matt 6:13). Do we flippantly approach Him as the “man upstairs” or as the Holy God of everything that ever was and everything that ever will be? We must approach Him in awe of who He truly is: the God of everything!
Confession- We should acknowledge our sin and our utter dependence upon God for the forgiveness of our sin (Matt 6:12). Sin and its penalty can no longer bind us. We have been forgiven of our sin- past, present and future. Christ died and rose again to free us from the penalty of our sin and we should never lose sight of the price that was paid for us.
Thanksgiving- We should thank Him for His wonderful provision and care He has shown for our lives (Phil 4:6). We can thank Him for the things He has shown us (wisdom and growth), the things He has blessed us with (Salvation, a family, friends), and the things He has provided us with (a house, car, job). We must realize our utter dependence upon Him for everything we have in this life and thank Him accordingly.
Supplication- We should ask Him for the things we need in life and the things we would like to have for His honor and glory (Matt 6: 11; Phil 4:6). God not only provided a means for our sin to be forgiven but also opened up a way for us to have a personal and intimate relationship with Him through prayer. He tells us to ask Him for provision and resources and He will give them to us to prove what an awesome and righteous God He truly is. He provides for us and takes care of us. We can approach a Righteous and Holy God who created the Universe and everything in it and make our requests known unto Him. That is truly awesome in nature!