The Acts prayer method is a great way to grow your prayer life and gives believers a framework to follow as they pray based on God’s Word. This model of prayer allows for many varied elements of prayer. Incorporating the different ways to pray helps our prayers not to be one-sided or a conversation all about us, but focuses our prayers on worship, acknowledgement of sin, gratitude and specific requests for ourselves and others.
New believers may struggle to know what to say when they pray and find a framework for prayer super useful! There is no perfect way to pray, of course and simple prayers are just as good as elaborate ones.
The ACTS model of prayer is a simple guide I learned when I was in middle school and has been a great way to structure my prayers; and I often find myself naturally praying in this model, even when I’m not actively thinking about following it!
The ACTS Acronym stands for:
Adoration — Expression of love and worship
Confession — Acknowledgement of and turning from sin.
Thanksgiving — Gratitude for God’s gifts.
Supplication — Humble requests for ourselves and others.
The Acts method of prayer is derived in large part from the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13.
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. *(for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.) *appears in later manuscripts, but not early ones.
Jesus begins his prayer to the Father with ADORATION or worship. Jesus recognizes God as our Heavenly Father, who is holy and whose name is the only one worth elevating.
When we begin our prayers with recognition and honor for WHO GOD IS, we are orienting ourselves towards Him. As His children, we should praise Him for His nature and attributes, not just for what He does for us. When praying in adoration, we can reflect on different characteristics and names of God. (See this article for various names of God in the Bible!)
One way to help prompt yourself is to use the Alphabet to adore Jesus. So for A we might say “God you are Awesome and we stand in awe of you.” For B, “We praise you God for your Boldness. There is nothing in the world that can stand against you and you always act with authority.” For C, “We celebrate You, God, as Creator. You created the world and set it in motion from tiny cells to giant galaxies. You are the Creative Creator and we praise you for it!”.
The second piece of the ACTS prayer acronym is “C” for Confession. Confession is the open admittance that we have done wrong. Psalm 51 is a great example of a prayer of confession of sins. This is the prayer David prayed after being confronted for his sins of sleeping with Bathsheba and murdering her husband. David openly admits his wrongdoing.
“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” -Psalm 51:2-4; 10
Prayers of confession should also involve expressions of repentance. While confessions is admitting you’ve done wrong, repenting of sin is the next step where we make a 180 degree change in direction from our particular sins to doing the right thing the Holy Spirit is calling us to do.
An example of a Confessing prayer is: “God I messed up today when I yelled at my kids. I don’t want to be an angry person–I want to show your love and kindness. Turn me from anger–I seek peace in my interactions today. You are my kind and good to me God, even when I sin, and I know an angry response doesn’t bring You glory.”
The third part of the ACTS prayer is Thanksgiving–when we thank God for the good things he brings into our lives. We see thanksgiving prayers throughout the Bible both for who God is and what He does.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. -Psalm 100:1
Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Gratitude is all over the Bible and I love taking the time to verbally acknowledge the small and big ways God has been good to me in my ordinary life. This is a powerful way to take my eyes off my less-than-ideal circumstances and onto the good gifts God is bringing into my life.
The final part of the ACTS prayer model is Supplication. If you’re not sure what that big word means essentially it is specific prayer requests for the needs of others or yourself. Many times this is all we bring to the Lord in our prayer time. We come with a checklist of tasks we want from Him, before we even connect with him or acknowledge the things He has already done on our behalf out of His steadfast love.
But we should never neglect to ask God for what we need! Asking God for our physical (daily bread) and spiritual (lead us not into temptation) needs is a large part of the Lord’s prayer model that Jesus gave to us. God welcomes our requests on behalf of others and ourselves and we see that example over and over in both the Old and New Testament.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! -Matthew 7:11
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. -Hebrews 4:16
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. -James 1:5
An example of supplication in prayer could be: “God, I need your help today to find joy in my work. My flesh wants to see the inconveniences and annoyances of this day, but I ask for Your presence and joy to fill my heart in a way that doesn’t make logical sense. Give me Your perspective on this day, Jesus.
I pray too, for my coworkers Melissa and Tammy who don’t seem to know You. I pray you would draw them to yourself through the Holy Spirit. Bring strength to Tammy as she cares for her mom. Help me to be a safe place to bring their spiritual questions and curiosities. Give me your wisdom in every conversation. Help me not to forget this day matters for eternity. Amen.”
Grab your ACTS prayer model printable bookmark to keep in your Bible and help prompt you to pray using Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication!
God wants an intimate relationship that is personal with you! Prayer is one way we develop that relationship as we talk to God and verbalize His work in our lives. If you’re interested in more ways to grow your prayer life check out these articles!
