Praying For Action, Psalm 46:1
Introduction
It’s reported that one Sunday an ol’ country preacher in Mississippi prayed the following prayer just before delivering sermon: “Oh Lord, give Thy servant this mornin’ the eyes of the eagle and the wisdom of the owl;
Connect his soul with the gospel telephone in the central skies; ‘luminate his brow with the Sun of heaven; possess his mind with love for the people; turpentine his imagination, grease his lips with ‘possum oil, loosen his tongue with the sledge hammer of Thy power;
‘Lectrify his brain with the lightnin’ of the word; put ‘petual motion on his arms; fill him plum full of the dynamite of Thy glory; ‘noint him all over with the kerosene oil of Thy salvation and SET HIM ON FIRE. Amen!”
Transition
I am often asked questions about prayer. One person wants to know why to pray, while another person wants to know what to pray. Is it appropriate to pray only for yourself? Is it correct to pray only for others?
Is a prayer considered a good prayer based on how loudly or fiery it is prayed like the southern preacher in the story I just shared with you?
This morning I want to share with you the popular ACTS model of prayer. It is a way of praying which gives us a model to follow when we pray much in the same way that Jesus did when he gave us the Lord’s Prayer.
ACTS is an acronym with each letter telling us about a certain aspect of prayer. At the same time it also reminds us that a vibrant prayer life pushes toward action.
The A stands for Adoration: proclaiming who God is and the attributes of His character. The C stands for Confession: personal cleansing, repentance, putting on of Christ’s nature.
The T is for Thanksgiving: praise offering, remembering the works of the Lord, meditation. The S stands for Supplication: asking, intercession, and petitioning according to His will
The Acts Prayer Model (Adapted from the Joseph Company’s Teachings)
The ACTS Prayer Model is a tool to help guide you into the Presence of God during your personal devotional time. It is a means of intentional prayer.
Adoration
Take time to adore the Lord and give Him the affection of your heart. Do not ask anything. Focus on the attributes of God and declare who He is. Pray through the scriptures (specifically Psalms) to give yourself language for your adoration.
Wayne Muller, in his book “Learning to Pray,” writes, “In northern California, there is fog in the morning. As I write this, looking out my window, I know that the mountains and the trees, the grasses and the sky, remain hidden in the fog, but I cannot see them with my eyes.
Instead, I feel their presence in my body, I know the shapes that lie behind the fog for having seen them, watched them emerge again and again. It is a primitive kind of faith, based on repetition and proof, but a kind of faith that the fog will, indeed, lift. Slowly, as the sun warms the earth, the fog begins to clear.
And as it does, outlines appear, colors, textures, and, finally, the sky and sun are quietly revealed and I can see them all. This is prayer. This is deep, faithful listening, waiting for what is hidden to be revealed.
Prayer is not words; prayer is what happens when you listen and wait, beneath the words, for the outline of heaven to emerge.”
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength… ever-present help in times of trouble…” God is abundantly available; He is always there when we need Him.
Romans 8:38 says, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers can separate me from your love.”
If we are to experience God in our prayer lives then we have to learn to perceive what is behind the fog in our life. What lies behind the financial concerns of every day life...? A God who provides!
What lies behind our sometimes limited faith…? A God who is patiently waiting to fill us with all of the faith that we need for this life! Indeed, it is when the fog is lifted that we see things for what they really are!
Confession
Alexander Pope, the English poet of the early eighteenth century, wrote, “A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”
The ultimate act of spiritual warfare is that which we do against our own corrupt nature. By lingering in the place of repentance, we rid ourselves of the sinful nature and take on the nature of Christ.
In Galatians 2:20 the Apostle Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Confession is about much more than simply restating a list for God of all of the things which we have done wrong this week. The Lord already knows what we have done that we shouldn’t or what we neglected to do that we should have.
Confession, as Alexander Pope said, is about being wiser today than you were yesterday. Confession is about recognizing that only God is God and I am in need of His transformation power in my life.
Thanksgiving
Dr. Elmer Towns, in his book Praying The Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough, tells the story of a small son was playing with his french fries, dipping the end of one in the ketchup, and then waving it like a baton. His father was enjoying the moment. Mother had gone to a seminar, so for lunch the father took out his son and bought him a hamburger and french fries.
The young boy was more interested in playing with the french fries than eating them, though. “Eat your french fries...” the father coaxed. The son continued to wave his "french-fry baton," and the band played on. The father looked at his watch, but he did not have anywhere he had to be.
It was his habit to hurry about everything. After lunch, they were just going back home. Then almost by instinct, the father reached over and did something most fathers have done. He took one french fry out of his son’s package.
“No!” the son said sharply, and slapped the father’s hand. Then, raising his voice, he repeated, “No!” Apparently no one saw the little boy slap at his father’s hand. No one heard what the little boy said.
The stunned father sat surveying the situation, though saying nothing. Who does he think he is? he thought. He’s my son ...I bought these french fries, and I should be able to eat the fries that he won’t eat!
That was not the case, though. The little boy had already gone back to leading his make-believe band as though he had forgotten the situation. The father, however, had not forgotten what happened. He thought to himself, I could get mad and never buy him another french fry in his life.
The father was not mad at his son, though; he was more surprised than anything. He was not the type to get even. If anything, he was a mild kind of guy. He continued to think. I could bury him in french fries and smother him in ketchup, I love him so much.
The father sat in the plastic chair, watching his son dip another fry in ketchup, and lead the band. The little guy had no idea of the thoughts going through his father’s mind. We are like little children playing at life. Our heavenly Father reaches over to take one of our french fries – say in the form of wanting a couple of hours of worship on Sunday, or asking that we support His Church with our money.
Too often we slap God’s hand, telling Him, “No! Keep Your hand out of my life."
God does not want to take all our french fries from us. He wants just a taste. Like a selfish child, however, we say, “No!”
The question of the little boy and his father is a question about our heavenly Father and His children:
Who owns your french fries? When we are thankful to God we recognize that it is God who owns our french fries. A thankful heart makes room for God’s plan and makes way for God’s provision!
Be thankful for God’s Promises for your life, God has promised that He will never leave or forsake you. Be thankful for the people, family, co-workers and friends in your life. Most often it is through them that God reveals Himself.
Be thankful for your circumstances whether they are perfect or not. In your joys God is reminding you of His love.
In your struggles God is reminding you to learn to trust Him.
Be thankful for the miracles, experiences and adventures that you have had with God. When you are discouraged, remember all of the things that God has brought you through. This will remind you that since He did not abandon you then, He will not abandon you now!
Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4 ESV)
Supplication
As you enter to the presence of God, make your requests known to God. But do not simply ask God for the things you want or even the things you think that you need. Base each prayer request on Scripture.
By praying the Word, we align our will with His, and remind the Lord of His promises. As you do this you will be reminded of His promises. As you are reminded of His promises, you will be drawn closer to Him.
Psalms 37:4-5 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (ESV)
Now, does this mean that we ought to pray, “Lord I trust you and I delight in you… now where is my red Lamborghini?!”
Certainly that is not what the Psalmist had in mind when he penned those words so many years ago. What is Psalmist is telling us is something quite different from that in fact. What he is telling us requires just a bit more reflection than that.
When we look around we see so many who are evil and yet prosper. We see crooked businessmen and women who flourish and have all kinds of earthly possessions while so many who are so faithful have just enough to sustain them.
What the Psalmist is saying is that that God will never leave us not forsake us. He is saying that while we may not have everything that we want, God will provide for us all that we need.
At the end of the day, the deepest desires of our heart are to be like those of God – desires for peace, for love, for mercy, and for grace. For these things, the faithful do not want for lack.
Conclusion
“I prayed God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian.” So reads an entry in the diary of the legendary Pastor and Evangelist, George Whitefield… and his life is the evidence that the prayer was heard and answered.
In spirit, in prayerfulness, in ceaseless labor, in love to Christ, and in earnest and tireless efforts to win men from their sins to Him, he was, as he prayed to be, “an extraordinary Christian.”
As I read the prayer, I cannot but approve and admire its spirit. But can I and do I adopt it as my own? Is it my daily, earnest, heartfelt prayer, “O Lord, make me an extraordinary Christian.”
Let our prayer life be that of George Whitefield who asked God to do extraordinary things through him. Prayer is not an ends in itself, it is preparation for action.
As we apply the ACTS model to our prayer lives we learn to worship God more fully, to confess our sin and His glory, to be thankful, and to bring our wants into alignment with His.
Prayer does change things. God’s hand is moved when we come to Him earnestly and honestly. Most of all, though, prayer changes us.
Prayer is about pausing and listening. It is about setting aside self and putting on Christ. It is about making room in your life for the will of God.
Today, I encourage you to go ever deeper in your prayer life. I encourage you to lay aside the loud and fiery prayers of the southern preacher who asked God to ‘noint him with kerosene and set him on fire.
Instead, pick up a genuine and committed life of prayer and allow God to set your heart on fire with the love and passion that only comes from knowing Him.
Amen.
