A. Adoration
Dear God, I love you. I trust you and you are myshepherd and king. I know that you are all loving and all caring. You are my salvation.
C. Confession.
Please forgive me for all of the times that I hurt others. Help me to forgive those who have hurt me. Lord, I want to be a better person, with your grace.
T. Thanks
Thank you, Lord, for all that you do for me. Thank you for dying on the cross to save me from my sins. Thank you for my family and my friends. Thank you for the chance to learn and to get a good education. Thank you for giving me clothes to wear and food to eat. Thank you for everything.
S. Supplication
Please, Lord, help me to be a better person. Help me to be more loving and caring. Help me to be able to do well in school. Help me to get into the high school of my choice. Help me to understand what the teachers are teaching. Please bless my family and my friends. Help them to get what they want in life. Amen.
The ACTS Prayer
Adoration
"Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise Thee." Psalms 63:3
Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment to love him with all of our
heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our
Sustainer and our Redeemer.
When we focus our attention on the One who can meet our needs, it takes our eyes off circumstances
and allows us to experience God's sufficiency and peace.
“Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his
acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet…
harp and lyre… tambourine and dancing… strings and flute… clash of cymbals resounding. Let
everything that has breath praise the Lord. PRAISE THE LORD.”
Confession
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I Jn 1:8-9
Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are
displeasing to Him. All of us have sinned, and the Holy Spirit will reveal areas in our life that are not
pleasing to Him. Take some time to confess those sins. If the Spirit reveals sin in your life, name that sin
specifically and repent. This involves a change in your attitude and an active move on your part to no
longer indulge in that sin.
Then thank God for forgiving your sin on the basis of His promise in I John 1:9, "If we confess our
sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Finally, and most importantly, ask God to fill (control and empower) you by His Holy Spirit.
Sometimes confession involves restitution or making things right with friend you have wronged. If the
Holy Spirit reveals this in your life, do not hesitate to obey.
Thanksgiving
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18
Thanksgiving allows us to thank God for what he has done for us, and through us, right now, just as
Adoration is to praise God for who he is, in his pre-existent and eternal Being. Whereas adoration is to
praise him for his character, thanksgiving is thanking him for his actions toward us.
Each day God is blessing us! Every moment we can recall the wonderful things that God has done
for us, and the gifts that we have been given. We need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings.
"He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me." Psalm 50:23
Supplication
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God.” Phillippians 4:6
Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others.
PRAY FOR OTHERS.
In the epistles of St Paul, we read of him praying for those he has led to faith,
and asking them also to pray for him. So, you too can pray for other Christians, and encourage them to
pray for you. Pray for your familiy members, and for neighbours and friends. It's also good to pray for
those who don't know Jesus to come to faith - many Christians have come to believe in Christ through
the prayers of others.
PRAY FOR WORLD ISSUES. For peace in difficult situations, for leaders and those in influential
positions, for global issues such as care of God's environment, justice for the poor, relief of suffering in
less developed countries, and other issues that come to you.
PRAY FOR YOUR OWN NEEDS. It’s easy to neglect this, but Jesus encourages us to do so in the Lord's
Prayer - the model for prayer that He gave us.
"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11
Practical Helps for God time
* Set a time.
The same time every day is the best way to establish a lasting habit. When
will you devote time to your relationship with Jesus every day?
* Set a place.
The same place each day is also instrumental in establishing a disciplined
time with God. Where will you meet alone with the Lord?
* Avoid distractions. What are the things that could distract you from following through
with your desire to focus only on God? TV? Music? Visitors? Phone calls? The
refrigerator? Whatever it is, how will you avoid this distraction?
* Set reasonable goals.
You may know someone who spends an hour a day with the Lord, or
another who reads through the Bible completely in a year. But these goals may not be
reasonable for you to start out with. Perhaps at a later time these would be good goals
for you! Be realistic! What can you pretty much guarantee you would do each day?
The idea is to be successful at reaching your goal with consistency. Maybe 20 minutes of
Bible reading and prayer, maybe 30 minutes? What can and will work for you?
* Have someone hold you accountable.
It is always helpful to have another Christian know
your goal and be praying for you that you will reach it. They could even call you daily
or intermittently for a while to ask you if you spent time with Christ.-
Adoration: praise Jesus for one or several of His attributes (e.g., sovereign, gracious, holy, perfect, merciful, all knowing, loving, just, powerful, ever present, creative) both generally or as it applies to your circumstances. "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." - Psalm 36:5
Confession: tell Jesus what you have done wrong and why, apologize to Him, seek forgiveness, and thank Him for it. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
Thanksgiving: express your gratitude to Jesus for His love, mercy, grace, leading, sustenance, discipline, and blessing. "Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men" - Psalm 107:15
Supplication: ask Jesus to guide, heal, protect, comfort, sustain, or provide for you, or intercede for someone else. "...Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." - 1 Chronicles 4:10.
Instructions:
URUTAN DOA : A C S T.
ADORATION:
Begin the prayer by adoring God. Praise and worship HIM. This is a time for telling God what He means to you and how much you love Him. This is not the same as Thanksgiving where you thank God for all He has done, but a time to tell God how magnificent/holy/glorious He is, to focus solely on Him, to tell Him all the wondrous beautiful things about Him you love. King David was a great worshipper of god and a man God Himself stated was after His own heart, read Psalms for great examples of adoration. (Psalm 8: O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who hast set Thy glory above the heavens! Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name.)
CONFESSION:
This is when we confess our all our sins to God. Unconfessed sin creates a barrier between you and God and can hinder your prayers. Begin by confessing your sin to Him with an apologetic and repentant heart (to repent is to stop and turn 180 degrees from). Ask God to bring to mind any sins you may not be aware of so that you may repent and confess. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness I John 1:8-9. Often times the feeling of a weight lifting will follow this step. Important: Nothing can separate you from the love of God. But we can separate ourselves from the love of God just as Adam and Eve ran and hid from the Presence of God after their sin in the Garden-Notice God called after them, He did not wait for them to come to Him. Are you willing to come out of religiosity, and truly follow Him?
SUPPLICATION:
This is also known as Intercession. This is the phase of prayer where we come to the Father asking God to supply needs for ourselves and others. Be specific in your prayers. For example, instead of asking for God to bless your family, ask Him to help your son focus in math class and to give his teacher the wisdom she needs to present the information in a way he can digest, etc. If you feel led to pray for a certain person but don't know exactly what that person needs, ask God to lead you in prayer. He will.
Remember, prayer is an act of communing with God. It is about communication. It is about relationship with the Father. Use these steps to help you obtain that but don't feel you must adhere to any rigid rules. Also don't forget that communication is a two way street, that means you have to listen as well. You may not hear at first but with practice you begin to feel God speaking to your heart.
THANKSGIVING:
This is where we count our blessings, thanking and praising God for all He has given us and done for us in life. You may begin with the basics such as family, friends, food, shelter, safety, jobs, health, healing. Thank Him for hearing your prayers and for forgiving your sins, for His all-consuming love for you. Thank Him for His promises, for the glory of His handiwork, for His promises to you (if you don't know them, start looking them up). Follow Paul's advice, Ephesians 5:20 ..giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
TERJEMAHANNYA : A C T S
1. ADORATION (Pemujaan): Mazmur 63:3.
Mulailah dengan doa memuji Tuhan. Puji dan sembahlah Dia. Ini adalah waktu untuk memberitahukan kepada Allah apa artinya Dia bagi Anda dan seberapa besarnya Anda mengasihi Dia. Ini tidaklah sama dengan mengucapkan syukur kepada Allah dimana Anda bersyukur kepada Allah atas segala yang telah dilakukan, tetapi waktu untuk memberitahukan kepada Allah betapa megahnya/suci/mulianya Dia, untuk focus hanya kepada-Nya, untuk mengatakan kepada-Nya semua perkara yang indah dan menakjubkan tentang Dia yang Anda kasihi.
Contoh: Raja Daud adalah seorang pemuja Allah yang besar dan yang dikatakan seorang yang dekat dihati Allah. Bacalah kitab Mazmur 8; Ibrani 13:15.
CONTOH: 1 Yoh.1:8-9
Ya Tuhan, saya mengasihi-Mu. Saya percaya kepada-Mu dan Engkau adalah Gembalaku dan Rajaku. Saya tau, bahwa Engkau penuh kasih dan peduli. Engkau adalah keselamatanku.
2. CONFESSION (Pengakuan).
Ini saatnya ketika kita mengakui semua dosa kita kepada Allah. Dosa yang tidak diakui menciptakan sebuah penghalang antara Anda dan Allah serta itu dapat menghambat doa-doa Anda.
Mulailah dengan mengakui dosa Anda kepada-Nya disertai dengan hati yang menyesal dan bertobat (Bertobat artinya berhenti dan berbalik 180 derajat dari dosa). Mintalah kepada Allah membawa ke pikiran Anda setiap dosa yang Anda mungkin tidak sadari--sehingga Anda dapat bertobat dan mengaku. Baca 1 Yoh.1:8-9 "Jika kita mengaku dosa kita, maka Ia adalah setia dan adil dan akan mengampuni segala dosa kita dan menyucikan kita dari segala kejahatan".
PENTING: Tidak ada yang bisa memisahkan Anda dari kasih Allah. Tetapi kita bisa memisahkan diri kita dari Allah sama seperti Adam dan Hawa yang berlari dan bersembunyi dari hadirat Allah setelah berdosa di taman--Perhatikanlah bahwa Allah telah mencari mereka. Dia tidak menunggu mereka untuk dating kepada-Nya. Maukah Anda keluar, dan benar-benar mengikut Dia?.
CONTOH:
Ampunilah saya karena setiap saat saya telah menyakiti orang lain. Tolonglah saya untuk dapat mengampuni mereka yang telah menyakiti saya. Tuhan, saya ingin menjadi orang yang lebih baik, dengan rahmat Allah.
3. SUPPLICATION (Permohonan).Pil.4:6.
Ini juga disebut sebagai doa safaat (intercession). Ini adalah fase doa dimana kita datang kepada Bapa meminta Allah untuk memberikan (supply) kebutuhan bagi diri kita sendiri dan orang lain.
Biarlah doa Anda lebih khusus (specific). Misalnya, gantinya meminta Allah memberkati keluarga Anda, mintalah Dia untuk menolong anak Anda focus dalam kelas matematika dan agar Tuhan memberikan kepada gurunya hikmat yang dia/anak itu perlukan untuk menyajikan informasi dengan cara yang dia bisa cerna, dll.
INGAT: Doa adalah tindakan berkomunikasi dengan Allah, tentang hubungan dengan Allah. Juga jangan lupa bahwa komunikasi 2 arah yang berarti Anda harus mendengarkan juga. Anda mungkin tidak mendengar pada awalnya, tetapi dengan latihan Anda mulai merasa Tuhan berbicara kepada hati Anda.
CONTOH:
Mohon Tuhan, tolonglah saya untuk menjadi orang yang lebih baik. Tolonglah saya untuk lebih mengasihi dan peduli. Berkatilah keluarga dan teman saya. Tolonglah mereka untuk mendapatkan apa yang mereka inginkan dalam kehidupan".
4.THANKSGIVING (Bersyukur/Berterimakasih).1 Tes.5:18; Mazmur 50:23.
Ini adalah dimana kita menghitung berkat-berkat kita, berterimakasih dan memuji Allah untuk semua yang Dia telah berikan kepada kita dan lakukan bagi kita dalam kehidupan. Anda mungkin mulai dengan dasar-dasarnya seperti: keluarga, teman, makanan, tempat tinggal, keamanan, pekerjaan, kesehatan, penyembuhan. Terimakasih karena mendengar doa-doa Anda dan mengampuni dosa-dosa Anda--karena kasih-Nya bagi Anda. Ikutilah nasehat Paulus dalam Ef.5:20 (Baca).
CONTOH:
Terimakasih Tuhan untuk semua yang Engkau telah lakukan bagi saya. Terimakasih untuk mati di kayu salib guna menyelamatkan saya dari dosa2 saya.Terimakasih untuk keluarga dan teman2 saya.
Terimakasih atas kesempatan untuk belajar dan mendapatkan pendidikan yang baik.
Terimakasih telah memberikan kepada saya pakaian untuk dipakai dan makanan untuk dimakan.
Terimakasih untuk semuanya.
