The 4 Prayers You Should Pray Everyday

It can be hard to pray.

So often we start with good intentions, but we get bored or distracted. In a world that is all about fast-paced instant gratification, a consistent prayer life seems almost unattainable. 

The struggle is real. 

But it’s worth the fight. 

As Christians, we believe that we should always be praying! It’s the most effective way to connect with God and receive His guidance and protection. It’s one of the main ways we stay to stay encouraged and full of hope as we go through this crazy journey called life.

And it’s not something you have to do while kneeling. It’s something you do when you’re alone—when you’re working on your laptop or writing an email or cleaning the house or getting ready for work. And then when you get home at night, it’s something you do in your bedroom before you go to sleep. You take a moment to invite God into whatever you’re thinking/feeling. 

So if you’re just getting started with your prayer life, or if you’ve been praying for a long time but things feel stale, maybe this tool will help you. It’s called the A.C.T.S. model for prayer. It provides an outline for your prayers and can help if you feel stuck or uninspired.

A.C.T.S. stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication

Adoration- Adoration of God is where you simply express your love for Him. It’s the place where you reach out and just say, “God? You’re amazing. I’m amazed by you.” Adoration is about who God is, not what He does (we’ll get to that later). We adore God for all of His attributes. Here are a few lists to get you started:

The ‘Omni’s of God

• Omnipotent- All-powerful (Jude 24-25)
• Omniscience- All-knowing (Psalm 147:4-5)
• Omnipresence- Ever-present (Jerermiah 23:24

The Un-words

• Understanding (Jeremiah 33:3)
• Unimpeachable (Psalm 9:10)
• Unflappable (Mark 4:38)
• Unshakable (Hebrews 12:2)

Confession- After you’ve spent time acknowledging who God is, it’s time to acknowledge who we are: fallen. Confession is where we take an honest look at our own behavior, thoughts, motivations, and we admit we’ve missed the mark. Here are a few things confession isn’t…

Confession isn’t for God’s benefit– God already knows all the stuff we’ll talk about. This isn’t to inform Him, it’s to help us take a posture of humility and authenticity. Through confession, we develop into people who can say sorry, who can receive criticism with grace, and who can admit fault but then move on toward greater intimacy. 

Confession isn’t to pile on shame- Jesus died to set us free from shame and guilt. Confession isn’t about swimming in a sea of regret. It’s a time to seek reconciliation with the father and others, to admit fault, and ask for forgiveness. 

Confession isn’t to be taken lightly– Never forget that the only reason forgiveness is even possible is because of what Jesus did at Calvary. He bought that at a very steep price. So when we confess our sin, we should always be mindful of just how great a price was paid so we even have the opportunity to confess and find forgiveness. 

Thanksgiving- If adoration praises God for who He is, thanksgiving thanks God for what He’s done. This is where we take some time to acknowledge all the gifts He’s given to us…the air in our lungs, the clothes on our back, our job, family, friends. The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17). Whatever blessings we have received are all from the hand of God. He is our source.

Supplication- And finally, we present our requests to God. So many times our prayers begin and end with our requests…in effect, we treat God like a big Santa Claus in the sky. However, with this model for prayer, we end with supplication, only after we’ve worshiped, confessed, and offered thanks. Supplication can be requests for others and requests for our own needs. Bring it all to Him.

I hope this outline helps you as you seek more of Him through prayer. Just know that your Heavenly Father is crazy about you, and He’s delighted to be with you no matter what you’re praying about!