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The acrostic ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. What would happen if each were removed from devotions? (For example, what would happen if adoration were removed from your prayers?)
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The foundation of prayer is lost.
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If we remove Adoration, then we can be tempted to approach God from an unholy manner and focus on ourselves and our capabilities instead of giving Him honor and glory.
If we remove Confession, then we can become prideful – which leads to our downfall. If we don’t recognize and confess our sin, then we continue in sin, separating our hearts from the things of the Lord.
If we remove Thanksgiving, then we can lean towards entitlement and ungratefulness in both our relationship with God and with others. We can begin a lifestyle of trying to earn God’s favor instead of resting in His merited grace.
If we remove supplication, we can become dependent upon ourselves and face battles and situations on our own, when God wants to help us with them. I also think it is a lack of faith when we don’t choose to ask God for the things we need, but rather don’t ask for them at all or try to take matters into our own hand to obtain them. -
Adoration focuses us on who it’s all about. It stirs a heart of awe and worship. Confession focuses us on our status as a saved sinner and the price which was paid for our sin. It’s all about Jesus. It’d be easy to become a “cocky kid” without confession. Thanksgiving stirs gratitude which cultivates joy. It’d be easy to have prayer be methodical without thanksgiving and not grow our faith. Supplication makes prayer look to our moment-by-moment walk and day-to-day reliance on Jesus. It brings it down to the ground level and allows us to engage with God like a best friend and Heavenly Father in dialogue.
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I think my prayers would be useless and go unanswered.
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If adoration were removed from my prayers I would not be giving God the respect and acknowledgment of who He is.
If confession were removed from my prayers, I would not be reflecting on how I can become more like Jesus. I would also be missing out on the forgiveness and cleansing that is received through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.
If Thanksgiving is removed from my prayers I am missing out on an opportunity to recognize the gratitude and humility at everything God has given me. Thanksgiving is usually followed by a joyful presence in my prayer time.
If supplication were removed from my prayers I am missing out on an opportunity to share with Jesus my concerns and needs.I struggle with separating Adoration and Thanksgiving. Time with Jesus would not be complete without each of these elements. Is it important to pray in the order of the acronym? I hope not because my prayers are a mix of all of the elements in no particular order.
I and so thankful for the confirmation that I have been praying in a way that is pleasing to God and contains all four of the acrostic elements.
