Have you ever sat down to pray, only to hear crickets when you close your eyes? If so, keep reading to discover a simple framework for how to pray when you struggle with knowing what to say.
Once you learn this simple framework, you’ll be able to pray sincerely, without feeling scripted.
Prayer: A Spiritual Discipline
Faithful Christians know that prayer is an important part of our spiritual lives. It’s one of the many spiritual disciplines that’s talked about frequently in the Bible.
Prayer gives us the chance to confidently cast our cares on the Lord and let Him handle them (1 John 5:14; Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7).
Paul says to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He’s not offering an impossible task, to never take a mental breath in between prayers. Rather, he’s implying that prayer isn’t something we do here and there. It’s our lifestyle.
One of the disciples’ requests to Jesus was “teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). On that occasion, Jesus presented them with this lovely model prayer:
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” – Luke 11:2-4
A Christian’s prayer habit should be just as second nature as breathing. Prayer gives our souls air to breathe.
But why is something that’s so important so hard?
Why is prayer hard?
Whether we’re praying for the first time or returning to the habit, prayer can feel surprisingly complicated. We’re talking to the Holy Lord, the King of Kings. He deserves the utmost reverence. Isn’t it easy to feel small when we approach His majestic feet?
We wonder if we’re doing it right. If our words are good enough. If our requests are worthy enough.
We know prayer is supposed to be genuine, not performative, yet we still feel the pressure to find the right words.
Looking at prayers in the Bible, like Jesus’ model prayer, definitely helps us figure out how to pray. But how do we take the example of the model prayer and grow our own authentic, personal prayer life?
This is my personal prayer tool
When I was a girl, my grandmother shared a simple framework for prayer that helps with this (spoiler alert: it still works for me as an adult). She helped me understand approaching God’s throne regularly is more important than approaching God perfectly.
Today, I’m going to share this four-step prayer framework with you. Once you learn it, you’ll be ready to let go of the perfectionism that plagues your prayer life and motivated to simply connect with the Lord on a daily basis.
The acronym is called ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. Let me show you how it works.
A Simple Framework for Daily Prayer
Adoration
Is the word adoration part of your everyday conversations? It certainly isn’t in mine! Think of the synonyms like praise, respect, reverence, amazement, worship, and even wonder and awe.
These song lyrics that we sing in our worship are a perfect description of what it looks like to give God adoration:
You are beautiful beyond description,
Too marvelous for words…
…I stand in awe of you!
Are praise, reverence, and awe part of your prayers? The Bible is full of prayers that include adoration. Here are a few examples.
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” — 1 Chronicles 16:29
“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.” — Psalm 59:16
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!” — Psalm 150:1-6
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” — Revelation 4:11
Confession
Confession means we acknowledge the truth. Often, we think about confessing our sins. This is certainly applicable, since we are told in the Bible to confess our sins (1 John 1:9). But confession can be more than only confessing our sins.
Confession involves acknowledging who God is and how much we need Him. We don’t confess our need to God as if He doesn’t know. We confess to show Him that we know. We tell God that we know with Him and His redemption, we’d be hopeless (Ephesians 2:12).
By confessing our dependency on God, we add another strand to the cord between us. Much like our spouse gains encouragement from actually hearing, “I’m so grateful for you and I really appreciate you,” our God appreciates the sweet aroma of prayers that drifts upward to Him (Psalm 141:2).
Take a look at these verses that include confessions.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” — James 5:16
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” — Matthew 16:13-20
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long… I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” — Psalm 32:3, 5
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” — James 5:16
Thanksgiving
I love when my little boy prays. He’s at the age where every prayer is filled with thankfulness for Ev. Er. Ry. Thing.
“Thank you for the bread, thank you for the peanut butter, thank you for the jelly, thank you for the plate, thank you for the napkin, thank you for the…”
We can learn from the example, can’t we? Practicing gratitude focuses our attention on God’s faithfulness, goodness, and generosity.
Psalm 107:1 spells it out: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
Not, “give thanks to the Lord for answering prayers.” And not, “give thanks to the Lord because He has given you many blessings.”
Although you and I know both of those statements are true, the Psalmist praises God for being good and loving before anything else.
It reminds me that even when I’m bemoaning my less-than-ideal circumstances, there’s always something to be thankful for. It starts with being thankful for God.
Here are some more examples of thanksgiving found in the Bible:
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” — Colossians 4:2
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” — Philippians 4:6-7
Supplication
Supplication is another word we don’t use on a daily basis. Supplication means “to ask for humbly and earnestly.” Synonyms include appeal to, beg, implore, petition, and plead.
Prayers of supplication give us the chance to take our needs, burdens, and desires to the Lord. When we trust God to supply our needs, we are saying, “Lord, I trust you to be my provider.”
Now here’s the question: whose supplications are we taking to the Lord? I would guess many of us find it easier to pray for others’ needs over our own. We pray for those who are sick and afflicted or grieving. But do we daily take our own needs (or even our wants) to the Lord? Tell me in the comments if you struggle to remember your own petitions in prayer like I sometimes do.
These verses are inspiring for our prayers of supplication.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” — Psalm 34:17
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7, 19
“Give us this day our daily bread.” — Matthew 6:11
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” — James 1:5
Using the ACTS Framework Helps us Know How to Pray on a Daily Basis
When you pray, remember God isn’t asking you to present an entire dissertation in a single sitting. He’d rather hear from you on a regular basis, bringing your sincere heart to Him.
Prayer is something anyone can practice to grow closer to God. And I hope this four-step framework helps you. If you did find this article helpful, please comment “helpful” so I know to continue these efforts. Then, head to another article that I think you’ll enjoy: Spiritual Disciplines 101: What You Need to Know.
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