So far in our ACTS model of prayer, we have looked at:
A: Adoration
C: Confession
T: Thanksgiving.
We finally come to the part of prayer that we seem to be good at: supplication or asking. It is no accident that supplication is the final aspect of our model prayer. It is last in order to keep prayer in its proper perspective. Instead of prayer being a regurgitation of our “wish list,” praying adoringly with confession and thanksgiving puts us in a proper mindset as we come to the Father with our petitions. I will be the first to admit that much of what I go to the Father with is selfish; it’s usually all about me. However, after you have prayed with a heart of adoration, confession, and thanksgiving, supplication becomes not a self-centered “wish list” but true concern and petition for others. Sure, we will still pray for ourselves, but that won’t be the overwhelming majority of our requests.
As we present our requests to God, we need to keep a few things in mind. One is that we are called to pray specifically. So often we find ourselves praying general requests like, “Father be with my family.” But what would it be like if we prayed specifically, “Father please protect my children as they are at school”? Again, it’s not as if God won’t protect our family if we pray generally, but I know for myself that if I pray that specific prayer, it also reminds me to pray for others by name as well, such as my kids’ teachers. When we pray specifically, we allow our prayers to become more -other-centered and less self-centered.
The second point about supplication to remember is that we are to keep on praying for our petitions. I think of Matthew 7:7-8. You don’t see it as much in the English as in the Greek, but the entreaty to ask, seek, and knock has the idea of keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. Don’t give up when you don’t see an answer to your prayer immediately. You keep on asking not to annoy God into giving your what you request but to allow Him to work out His will in His time.
God doesn’t want prayer to be something that is another item on your to-do list. Instead, He wants it to be part of an ongoing dialogue where we take time out to open our hearts to God as we would to any of our close friends. It is not to be a chore we need to complete, but it is to be a pleasure as we spend time with our Best Friend. It is to be a time where we adore our Father, confess our sins, thank our Sustainer, and petition the Creator.
Conversation:
How has your view of prayer changed this month?
Going forward, how do you plan on implementing what we have talked about?
Recommended Reading
For over two decades Too Busy Not to Pray has stood as a classic on prayer, helping Christians all over the world slow down to draw near to God.
During those years, the world certainly hasn't slowed down. If anything, the pace, intensity and number of distractions have only increased. Brokenness and pain seem to have increased as well, with news of civil war, poverty, broken families and sex-trafficking touching us daily. The urgent need for prayer is clear, but busyness still keeps many of us from finding time to pray.
Two truths haven't changed in all these years: God is the same powerful, just, holy God he's always been; and true prayer―prayer that changes us and allows us to participate in God's work in the world―can't happen on the fly. So Bill Hybels once again offers us his practical, time-tested ideas on slowing down to pray. Revised throughout and including a new introduction and new chapter on prayer and compassion for the world, this twentieth-anniversary edition of Too Busy Not to Pray calls both young and old to make prayer a priority, and broadens our vision for what our eternal, powerful God does when his people slow down to pray.