Prayer Model (A.C.T.S.)

Intro.

Today I am going to discuss a method of prayer. There are many different methods when it comes to prayer. These methods are tools that has been used by Christians down thru the years. Let me say, any method can be a good method. If that method, leads you into the presence of God and you have witnessed God work on your life. Then your method is a good method. Today’s method is a very popular one, which we allude to last week at the end of our time. It is called the A.C.T.S. model. My understanding is that this model has been used since around the 1800. So we know that this method has been around a long time.

Methods

The Acts model is an acronym that stand for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Methods are tools or approaches for us in order to achieve the desired goal, in this case, our goal is not just prayer but meaningful purposeful prayer. If you have ever been in a situation that you didn’t know where to start, how to start, or where to go next in your personal prayer time. ACTS is helpful. It is also helpful because, while we may be looking at the ACTS model as a unit, you can just take one aspect of the prayer and used it. For example, let say you want to pray in the morning and in the evening, you can pray a prayer of adoration in the morning and maybe a prayer of thanksgiving at night. So again this one model of prayer that you can use for your personal prayer time.

Adoration – Recognize who God is – We response to the character of God.

Adoration is to give praise. It is an aspect of worship. Adoration helps us to admire the majesty of God’s creation. The complexity of His mind. They beauty that is even in the law. Sometimes we may look at the law of God as restrictive, rules based, and orders. But there is beauty in the law. There is beauty in structure, organization, systems he provides. (ask any school teacher, there is beauty in suture) In the law we receive the heart of God for humanity and ultimate human flourishing. In other words, we receive the best way to live on this earth for our benefit. And if you must remember when God gives the law to the children of Israel, he does so after they are freed from the oppression of Egypt. So they needed structure, the need direction, the need the law. And then he reveals in the New Testament that the purpose of the law was to show us our greatest need. We need a savior. (Romans 3:20) Adoration helps us to see the One who has given us his laws. Adoration helps us recognize that He is not only Creator and Sustainer but also Lawgiver. Adoration helps us to recognize the God we serve correctly. It helps us to magnify the Lord (Ps. 34) We know to magnify doesn’t make sometime bigger, but it makes my perspective bigger. Adoration aligns our hearts with God. In adoration, we are speaking truths about the character of God. Adoration helps our attitude and mindset in preparation to be in the presence of God. Adoration is not for God; it is for us. We benefit by recogning the power of God, the beauty of God, the justice of God and the mercy of God. We are reminding ourselves that God can be trusted.

Psalm 33:1-5

Psalm 33 is a Psalm of praise. We said before that adoration is praise. In psalm 33 we see- a call for us to praise in verse 1-3 and in verse 4 and 5 we see the reason that we should praise God. In verse 4 and 5, the psalmist give 4 reasons to praise God.

He says, For the word of the Lord is right and true; (1) – 6-9

He is faithful in all he does (2) 10-12

The Lord loves righteousness and justice (3) 13-15

The earth is full of his unfailing love (4) 16-19

After he list these reasons, the rest of the Psalm explains what he means. In other words, verse 4 and 5 are his main points and the following passage is the details.

In psalm 33 we see how God’s Word and His Works are linked together. In other words, we see the psalmist praise God based on who is he and what he has done. Now I believe in adoration it is really a moment to reflect on who God is, in thanksgiving we can talk about what God has done. But we see they are very much connected. In other words, we know that God is love, but love must be demonstrated to be seen or to be known. So, the bible tells us that God demonstrated his love on us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8.) For God so love the world that (he does something) he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16) God being love is sufficient, however it is only when God reveals his love that we are able to witness it, to behold it, to reflect upon it, to gain a different perspective of Him. In other words, it is in the revelation of his character that we see who he really is. Consequently, His actions are the outworking of his character. They are connected. And in Psalm 33 we able to see who he is and what he has done. Consequently, we praise God for both.

Whenever I think about adoration, I think about Maya Angeou. In her book, Letter to my Daughter, She tells the story on her voice teacher, Frederick Wilkerson, who would gather a number of students and read out loud from a book. When it came for Dr. Angeou part to read, her part concluded with the words, God love me. He told her to read it again. She said she did but this time sarcastically, he told her to read it again and again and again, I believe she read it about 7 times. Then she said, - After the seventh repetition I became nervous and though that there might be a little truth in the statement. There was a possibility that God really love me, me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the gravity and grandeur of it all.”

In adoration we don’t just say that list the characters of God just to be saying them, we say them because we want the truth to overwhelm us and overtake us as we enter into prayer.

Adoration helps sinks the truth down the deepest places of our hearts.

Confession – recognizes who I am – Isa 59:2

Confession – confession is a practical method of repentance. Confession is about admitting our sins. There is no doubt that we are sinful people. Paul says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Romans 3:23; David tells us that he was born in sin and shaped in ineeuity psalm 51:5. So, confession is not about if you have sinned but admission of your sin.

The goal of confession is not punishment but restoration or reconciliation; to people and to God. In other words, the goal is to unite me back to the fellowship of Christ because sin pushes me away from Christ. Isaiah 59:2- Sin is both personal and social. Sin is also intentional and it is done in ignorance. Sin is idolatry, corruption and transgression. Sin is missing the mark; missing God mark; God standard. The effects of sin leads to a corrupt mind and heart. Sin makes me love things that God hates.

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Confession is need daily because we sin daily. When I say sin I mean, things that we think, say, do. In other words, we can commit sin by thinking or entertaining wrong thoughts, thinking – we commit sin by saying things, lies, rumors, sowing deception – we commit sin by doing certain things like actions. Also, we commit sin by not doing things – if God has told us to do something and we don’t do it that sin. We commit sin when we don’t do things by faith. Now I saying all these aspects of sin in order to highlight our need for confession.

An example of this can be restorative justice. Restorative justice an alternative criminal justice model instead of focusing on punishment of the crime, the focus is on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. In other words, it is not focused on punishment but how do I make it right. We have seen this used in school system recently. Back in the day whenever we would get in trouble, you would go to the dean, the principle office or the whoever does the discipline and receive whatever the punishment should be. Suspended, detention, etc…My understanding is that now some school have adopted the restorive justice model, where if someone breaks a rule or harms someone, we might have a meeting with the parents of both people, discuss why we did the action, and how can we make it right.

One of the principles of restorative justice practices is that the person most affected by the crime should be able to participate in its resolution. In normal justice practices, if the crime is known then you simply follow the law. But the law doesn’t always restore your losses. The law appears to be punitive in order to send a message, that you better not do this again.

Psalm 51- in the subscript of the psalm it tells us the situation of the psalm. 1:10

In Psalm 51 we read about David. In this moment David is King. He is committed adultery with Beersheba. David writes this psalm as a confession of his sin.

But he says something interesting in verse 3-4. In verse 3 he appears to be convicted of his sin. He acknowledges his sin. He owns it. In the NIV he says these are my transgressions; my sin is always before me. It is an act of confession. Which leads to him acknowledge who he has sinned against. In verse 4, he says he has sinned against God. Now I’m thinking to myself, like no you sinned against Beersha, and her husband Uriah, and good counsel as well. How can you say that you only sinned against God. Earlier I talked about one of the principles of restorative justice being that the person most affected is the one who should have the ability to participate in your resolution. Whenever we sinned, God is the one most affected. Things are God’s law that we have broken. This is why David takes time to recognize his sin before God because it is God whom he has sinned against.

The purpose of confession is restorative. And the blessing of confession is that; if we confess our sins, HE (God) is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

(1 John 1:10)- He is faithful to forgive us because he told us that he would forgive us and he is faithful to his word. He is just to forgive us Jesus has already paid for my sins – so God would be unjust to punish Jesus and punish me. So God is faithful and just.

Thanksgivings – recognize what he has done for me

Thanksgiving has deal with thanking God for what he has done. In thanksgiving, I’m vocalizing my gratitude and appreciation for God’s grace. Grace is defined as something I don’t deserve. God has been showing humanity grace the garden of Eden. We see grace in the life of Adam and Eve and Abraham and Moses and Jonah and Jeramiah, Isaiah, you and me, our parents, friends and so many others. The question is how do we respond to the grace of God? Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving recognizes God’s grace and response to his deed and actions.

Another way to think about thanksgiving is to think about the opposite. To be unthankful. Unthankful suggest that you deserve, you earn it, you are unappreciative, or you are spoiled. Generally speaking, people are spoiled not because they have lots of things, but because they are unable to notice the hand of God in their life. Scripture teaches us that Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17) It is telling us that the gifts we have receive comes from a place -comes from a person. Scripture teaches us that Without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). We are dependent upon someone else to provide for us, take care of us, protect us, guide us, to give us things that we can’t achieve on our own. Peace, Salvation, the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is demonstrated when we say thank you.

Being unthankful robs God of his praise, honor and glory that he rightly deserves.

If we would only receive the things we deserve, we would receive hell, death and the grave. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death.

So being thankful shows your appreciation of what God has achieve own our behalf.

Sometimes we tend to give thanks only in good circumstances, conditions or situations. Thanksgiving should not be based on circumstances. This is why Pau say, 1 Thess. 5:18 Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God will for you in Christ Jesus. – (Job 1)

Psalm 107 – a thanksgiving psalm. 1-3

Psalm 107 is a thanksgiving psalm for the things that God has done. It demonstrates God love towards us by redeeming us. Psalm 107 has a certain rhythm to it. In the first 3 verse he mentions that all of these people have been redeemed and he calls for the people to proclaim their redemption. When you get to verse 4 the psalmist begins to bring up certain situations of those who God had redeemed. We see this in verse 4, 10, 17, and 23. These are all situations. In every situation we see they people response by prayer (cried out to the Lord) (6,13,19,28) so im going to read so that you can hear the rhytme better.

So in this psalm we see a certain cycle or rhytym where people get in trouble and then call on God, God delivers them and consequently in verse 43 we are called to consider the great love of the Lord. In other words, His love is demonstrated in his actions. Thanksgiving is us responding to his actions.

What’s really interesting is the benefits of thanksgiving and being grateful. Interestingly enough, it has been proven by social scientist that people who are grateful are also those who have the most joy. In other words, one of the benefits of thanksgiving is that it produces joy. Research professor and writer Dr. Brene Brown, conducted research on the intersection between joy and gratitude. She mentions that before she did her research her thoughts were that people who are more joyful are those who are more grateful. In other words, she believed that joy produced gratitude. Her research included 12 years of research, and 11,000 pieces of data (focus groups, interviews, studies, peer reviewed journals) she claims that her research revealed the opposite. It revealed practing gratitude producing joy. – One way to praicte gratitude is thru prayer.

Supplications – recognize my need of God intervention –

Supplication is asking. In this model it comes last of all. Part of the reason I think it comes last because Jesus tells us that God already knowns what we need. In other words, when we pray to God, it is not us informing him of our needs. In supplication we are asking God to fulfill our needs-request according to what he has promised. We are acknowledge that God is the only One who can answer our request. Old Testament Biblical scholar Walter Bruggeman says, In prayer, we embody and enact a trusting relationship. Through prayer we grow in awareness of God’s mercy and God’s steadfast solidarity. The expectation of prayer, then, is not that a given request be granted, but rather that a covenantal relationship be enacted and trusted, a relationship that in itself “recontextualizes the disaster.[1]” Bruggeman is saying that prayer is not about God answering my request. Even thou these are promises God is not necessary obligated to answer the prayer. He is required to response. (Yes, No, Wait, Maybe) But Bruggeman highlights that prayer reveals our trusting relationship with God. We trust that God knows best for us. We trust that God sees us and hears us when we prayer. So much so that even if our request our denied we still trust him, we don’t lose faith.

Supplication is asking, if the Bible teaches us that there is a wrong way to ask, which also suggest a right way to ask. I don’t believe it tells us the right way to pray because in the OT and NT we witness lots of prayers. But there is one place where we are shown the wrong way to pray.

James 4: 1-3 someone to read - - request

Message Translation

Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

2–3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.[2]

There is a lot of contention in these verses. James uses words like, fights, quarrels, battle, wars, kill, covet, lust. And these are the believers. Remember James is writing to believers. James informs us that the wrong way to ask is rooted in selfish.

When the believers pray, it is for selfish motives and not to resolve conflicts or to glorify God. They want to win. This is why James calls them, adulterers, in verse 4 because they were being unfaithful to God by focusing on their own desires. They were not looking into the interest of others – Phil. 2:4 They were not bearing up the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves. – romans 15 – So I think that James shows us a wrong way to pray is rooted in selfishness. In other words, the wrong way to pray is not rooted in a certain method but in your own motivates. Why do you pray?

Phil. 4:6-7 - worry and prayer cannot coexist

In this passage the apostle Paul tells the believers that a redemey for them being anxious, worried, nervous, restless, fretful, is prayer. He tells them that prayer should be accompanied with 2 things petitions (supplication) and thanksgiving, we present our request to God. After you present your request notice that he doesn’t say that God will grant your request. Instead he says that God will provide two things; peace and protection. In other words, whatever had us so anxious, after we pray God said he will give us peace. Secondly, God said he will give us protection. He said he will guar your mind and your heart. In other words, we may still have to deal with the storm, but God will give us peace in the midst of the storm.

Jonathan Edwards says this about unanswered prayer.

[1] Virus as a Summons to Faith: Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Uncertainty.

[2] Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (Jas 4:1–3). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.