Friday, March 12, 2010

Living Intentionally, A.C.T.S Prayer Time

Extravagant Grace

When I got a journal in a blog swap I decided I would start writing down some prayers to God. At the end of each seminar my husband teaches a class for church about the importance of a devotional life. In that class he teaches the acronym A.C.T.S, which you can use during your prayer time with God.

A= Adoration
C= Confession
T = Thanksgiving
S = Supplication (A fancy word for the things you need and want)

I got to thinking about that acronym, applying it to my devotion time, and also how it related to Living Intentionally for God.

So here is my A.C.T.S prayer for this week:

A = I really adore God for the the beauty of His creation all around me: ocean, redwoods, wild daffodils, and sea life.

C= Some times this area is personal but I want to mention that I need forgiveness and your prayers for impatience, raising my voice, and better time management.

T = I am thankful for the safety God always bestows on us when we travel, I am thankful for my family, for our health, for hope, and above all for salvation.

S = Family friends just lost a 3 month old baby. After a surgery to repair a cleft pallette the baby stopped breathing in the home as he was sitting in his car seat (1 day after being released). I pray for them, it is difficult to understand that kind of loss. We also had 2 old friends come to our seminar, who are not walking in a right relationship with God. It is heartbreaking to witness that. One last supplication to God is that He help us fill up our 2011 seminar schedule.

So as you can see the A.C.T.S acronym can stretch your prayer time. I wrote this out briefly but when you actually pray to God this can make your prayers go from 1 minute to 10 minutes quite easily. And yes, I realize that my "S" section is a bit longer. Isn't that how we are? We need and want so much for God. I need to start incorporating more of the other categories in my prayer time as well. (Add one more necessity to my Living Intentionally in 2010 list!)

Blessings, LaVonne :)

For more Living Intentionally head over to Extravagant Grace.

4 comments:

Star Seeker said...

That is so heartbreaking, and sending prayers for God's comfort to be close to your family friends in this difficult time.

Allen Skipper said...

Glad you stand up for Christ!

Lisa said...

This is a beautiful contribution to Living Intentionally. We often use ACTS as a family, especially with my older girls. Each one of us takes a letter and prays it up. It is always such a rich time as a family with the Lord.

Blessings!

bp said...

Thanks for visiting and your comment.

I enjoyed your posts I've looked at tonight.

I'm going to have to try this in my prayer journal. I've seen this before and used ACTS in praying with our son. I'm going to try it in my prayer jounral now.

God bless,
Bethany