Prayer: ACTS Model, etc.

[This was originally posted on August 4, 2011. I post this in the hope that some reader will find it helpful in your own prayers.]

When I come before the LORD in prayer and am not sure what to say, I often follow the model prayer given by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13. Thinking through this specific passage, however, can sometimes lead to rather stilted prayers (kind of like taking note cards into a personal conversation: having to think to remember each phrase of the Lord's Prayer before speaking) or to rote prayers (in which I'm just repeating the phrases without thinking). So, on other occasions, I will follow the ACTS model for prayer. ACTS stands for:

• Adoration [Psa 150]


• Confession [1 Jn 1:9]


• Thanksgiving [1 Thess 5:18]


• Supplication [Phil 4:6]

I've heard this model suggested by many Christian leaders I respect: from Kevin Pounds to R.C. Sproul. It is based on the principles found in the Lord's Prayer (and other prayers in Scripture) as well as the specific verses mentioned above.

When I come to the "supplication" section, I often think through the areas of responsibility in which God has placed me, prioritizing those areas in my intercessions for their needs roughly as follows:

1. Wife [Eph 5:25-33; 1 Pet 3:7]

2. Children [Eph 6:4; 1 Tim 5:8]

3. Church [1 Sam 12:23; 1 Cor 1:2]

4. Extended family [Eph 6:1-3; 1 Tim 5:8]

5. Friends [Prov 18:24; Eccl 4:9-11]

6. Nation [2 Tim 1:1-2; 1 Pet 2:17]

7. Employers [Eph 6:5-8; 1 Pet 2:18]