Prayer Article: A.C.T.S.
Through Christ, With Christ, In Christ, In the Unity of God The Holy Spirit, All Glory, and Honor, are Yours Almighty Heavenly Father God for ever, Amen.
Warm and Loving Greetings, to all of my dear sisters and brothers.
The 4 points of prayer here are the details:
There are certain basic ingredients should be included in our prayer. These can be easily remembered by the word: "ACTS" which is composed of the first letters of the following words:
1) Adoration,
2) Confession,
3) Thanksgiving, and
4) Supplication.
1) ADORATION: Psalm 95: 1 to 8a (NKJV) let us see:
Oh come..........
Now take a few minutes to praise and adore our Heavenly Father God in your own words.
Here are few words of adoration I am using in my prayer: Almighty Loving Heavenly Father God, or Father God, Precious Lord, Father God in Heaven, Glorious Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, King of kings, Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega.
When disciples asked, teach us to pray, our Lord God Jesus replayed, when you pray say, "Our Father, who art in heaven". (Matthew 6:9) Also in Bible, HE used the word Abba (in Aramaic language "Dear Father!") Mark 14:36.
2) CONFESSION:
Next we move to confession as we examine ourselves and clarify our vision of who we are before God. Prophet Isaiah said it for all of us: But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. (Isa. 59:2). let us see John gave us hope: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1: 8,9.)
Now begin at a personal level. What do we need to confess. Be specific by writing your confession. Here is my second part of prayer: Father God, I am a sinner, my value is nothing but dust to dust. I commit sin against Heaven, against Your Holy Bible, I am not worthy to come to You, but I come to You through Your Precious Son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I confess all my sins, and repent of all my sins, and as you say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17), and I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5)
We are also involved in corporate sin. Isaiah realized this too: So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, (Isaiah 6:5)
Not only do we need to confess our personal sins, but those of our church, our community, and our nation. you can write this part of your confession.
3) THANKSGIVING:
After confession comes thanksgiving, which is the overflow of a grateful life. This should always be a part of our prayer, as Apostle Paul reminded us: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1Thess. 5:16-18). Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).
For giving Thanks I say: Father of Glory, in the Name of Jesus I give thanks to you for giving this beautiful day, giving precious life on this earth, and so on. Prayerfully recall at least few specific things for which you are thankful, and after each, say, "Thank you, Father of Glory.
4) SUPPLICATION:
Adoration, confession, and thanksgiving help prepare us for supplication. The Bible says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God;" (Philippians 4:6).
Supplication is an intense word. It is intercession and petition combined a kind of brooding, longing act of remembrance.
In your heart now, name some particular persons for whom you wish to pray. Hold these in your mind in the presence of God for three or four minutes, asking God to meet their needs, for example: your loving family members, relatives, friends, neighbor, your Pastor, poor people, children etc.
Next, visualize your church. Center upon two of its most crucial needs. How can you help to meet these needs? Verbalize aloud intense longing that you and your church will find fulfillment in ministry.
Now.... hold our nation and world up to God. Imagine that you are able to take our nation and world (as though it were a globe) tenderly in your hands. Raise your hands as you symbolically lift our world to God. Take your time now as you ponder and feel one at time each of the following:
the hunger of the poor,
the desperation of those without jobs,
the anguish of a war-torn-people,
the frustration of governmental leaders,
the futility of the wealthy who have no meaning,
the despair of prisoners,
the helplessness of the elderly,
the fear of the terminally ill,
the questioning of the young.
Lift all your feelings in an act of surrender to God. If you sense the desperation of person and feel the anguish of your own inadequacy as you cry out to God, you have experienced supplication.
Let us see what a glories promise our Heavenly Father God is giving us: If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7: 14).
Most of the time it happens when we pray, we forget first 3 parts A, C, and T and jump to S that is supplication. Here is an example, we say, Dear God, and start all our grocery list and finish with the world, Amen. Is it fair for our Father God? Our prayer must finish, In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. If not then the prayer is called a Jewish prayer.
We can not go direct to a judge, we have to through a attorney or lawyer. The same way we can not to our Father God, we have to go through our Lord God Jesus Christ or through God The Holy Spirit.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity. May our Lord God Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
Love, Grace, and Peace,
Sugandh S. Salvi
(Certified Lay Servant)
(973) 632-8475
email: sugandhsalvi@yahoo.com
"Depending altogether on our Father God, we have nothing to fear from anybody, nothing to lose,
and nothing to regret, The Lord is our Inexhaustible Treasure." .... Pandita Ramabai.
