Do you need a spiritual reset?
Spiritual Reset?
Do you need to a spiritual reset? Consider spending some time going through the ACTS of prayer.
In my early years working in pregnancy care ministry, I attended a retreat for our staff and volunteers. At one point over the weekend, we were each sent to a quiet place to be alone. We had been given a small folder that contained an outline to be followed over the next hour. Essentially we would be spending an hour in prayer.
An Hour in Prayer?!
Most people think, “An hour in prayer?! I can barely pray for five minutes without becoming distracted!”
At that time (and sometimes even now), I wasn’t any different.
I had four children under the age of six. Having to time to pray, other than at meals, felt like a luxury. I took the folder and decided that even if I couldn’t pray for an hour, I would take the extra time to read my Bible.
The outline that we had been given to follow was very simple. The author had taken the old ACTS acronym for prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication) and printed scripture, poetry, and song lyrics to go along with each section.
It was such a lovely way to spend an hour in communion with God! I came away refreshed in my mind and heart and ready to serve God. I didn’t need a motivational sermon or a dramatic service to be renewed. I just needed time with the Word and with the Lord!
Needing a Spiritual Reset
Since that time, whenever I have felt weak or weary, spiritually, I make it a 
point to take an hour and work through the ACTS acronym on my own. I always come away feeling refreshed or renewed or as if I had just had a spiritual reset. You get the idea.
Lately, I have been feeling the need to do this again this past while, and the thought that it would make a good blog post had been rolling around my head. This past weekend I participated in an on-line women’s retreat. Guess what the afternoon session was?
Yep! It was a prayer time applying ACTS to Colossians 2. I took that as a confirmation that I needed to write this post, and soon!
So, if this is the first time that you have ever heard of the ACTS way to pray, let me give you a brief summary.
Adoration
First of all, is Adoration. This word is synonymous with worship. To adore 
God is worship Him for who He is.
Do you ever read a Psalm or sing a song and are just caught up in the knowledge of God? Does your heart rejoice at hearing the different titles of God in the Bible? That’s adoration.
Consider the words of Revelation 5:11-14 (New International Version, NIV)
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!’
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!’
The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.”
When we praise God for who He is, we join in with the angels as they worship. Isn’t that marvelous?!
Confession
Of course, we cannot enter God’s presence without recognizing how unworthy we are to be there. We are told in Romans 3:23-26 that we have all sinned and we all fall short of God’s glory, but Jesus’s work on the cross- shedding His blood- made us righteous before God. It is only through Jesus that we can truly adore the Father.
Likewise, we know that we fall short of what God intends for us. Ephesians 4:17-32 lists a variety of ways that people who claim to be Christians, active in a church, can still sin. In fact, 1 John 1:10 says that if we claim to not have any sin, we make God a liar!
Because sin is to not have any place among God’s people, we need to be careful to not let it have a place! That’s where confession comes in.
In 1 John 1 again, we are told that if we confess our sins God will forgive us and cleanse us.
Psalm 51 is the ultimate prayer of confession. It was written by King David after his sin with Bathsheba was exposed by the prophet Nathan.
In it David begs the Lord to create in him a pure heart and to renew in him a steadfast spirit. David understood that his sin was in the way of his relationship with God, and, even though his sin had hurt, and even killed, other people, ultimately he had sinned against God.
Thanksgiving
Once we have confessed our sin, there really is no other thing that we can do than to give thanks to God for forgiving us. From that point, there are so many more things for which we can be thankful!
What has God done for you? Have you been saved by Jesus’ work on the cross? Yes? Then thank God for all that He has done in and through Jesus.
If you need help with that read Romans 8. In each of the thirty-nine verses there is something to thank God for. I am not exaggerating, when I say every single verse!
Need some more help? Count your blessings- seriously!
As the old hymn goes,
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God has done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Supplication
Once you have finished thanking God for what He has done (if you can finish, really?!), then you can move towards asking things of God. Supplication literally means to ask (or beg) for something with humility.
How often do we go to God asking for things without giving a thought to whom we speak? I know that is part of the privilege of being called a child of God, but I think we sometimes get stuck in the child mode and forget that 
it’s God who we’re asking.
I know, for myself, by the time I have finished spending time in worshipping God, recognizing how far short I fall from His standards, thanking Him for all that He has done and is doing for me, there is nothing I can feel but humility!
At this point those things that I thought I wanted from God can be evaluated in the light of who He is. Whatever selfish things I may wanted are revealed to be just that- selfish! From there I can pray and make those requests that are appropriate for a daughter of the Almighty God!
Do you see how wonderful spending time with God like this can be? Do you see why I call it a “spiritual reset”?
Try it for yourself, and tell me how it went!
I would love to hear from you.
Additional resources:
A Simple Acrostic for Prayer:ACTS- RC Sproul Ligonier Ministries
Is the ACTS formula for prayer a good way to pray? Got Questions?
The Doctrine of Prayer by J. Gary Millar, The Gospel Coalition
