This week we are going deeper into a passage that you most likely know pretty well. The Lord’s Prayer. We are going to be looking at the version fo the prayer that is found in Luke, specifically Luke 11: 1-4. We’ll follow the same pattern that we’ve been going by this year, one day of the world behind the text, at least one day of the world of the text, at least one day of the world in front of the text

Starting yesterday, I wanted to talk about some helpful tools for praying.  In our world in front of the text (i.e. what does this mean to us?).  Yesterday we talked about helpful ideas that can define what “prayer” is and the big ideas that we can use to pray “better.”  Today I want to talk about a specific model of prayer that can really help us.  It’s called the ACTS model.  Each letter stands for a movement in our prayers.

A – Adoration.  In other words, the worship of God.  God is worthy of our worship, not because of anything that He has done, He is worthy because of who He is.  He is good.  He is kind.  He is love.  He is holy.  Adoration is us being reminded of what a great, mighty, and awesome God that God truly is.  God is the focus of our prayer and of our worship.  God is the one to whom we are praying and we need to be reminded of what a great and mighty God that He is.  Pray should always start there.

C – Confession.  We should confess our sins.  Not so that we feel bad or beaten up, but so that we can hear the words of forgiveness and of grace.  Confession is God’s way of clearing the deck and cleansing everything.  Confession allows us to see our great need but to also see God’s greater salvation and grace.  We have now been reminded of God’s greatness and of God’s grace.

T – Thanksgiving.  This is where we thank God for our blessings.  All that God has given us.  The Bible tells us in James that all good gifts come from above.  We need to stop and remember all that we have to be thankful for.  All that God has given us.  All that we value, those are God’s gifts to us.  We should be thankful for life, for grace, for salvation, for the church, for so many things. We have so, so many things to be thankful for.  Have you named them to God recently?  Have you thanked Him for all that He has done?  When we take time to thank Him, our lives are changed.

S – Supplication.  This is where we give to God our concerns.  The Bible is clear, God welcomes our concerns God wants to hear from us and our concerns matter deeply to Him.  We are told to give our concerns to God and the peace that passes all understanding will guard our hearts.  We must give to God our concerns, over and over again.  He welcomes them, He desires them, and we need to give them over to Him. Through giving them over to Him, we release them, we trust Him, and we have faith.  And that is God’s ultimate desire for us, that we have faith in Him.

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