ACTS of Prayer

ACTS of Prayer is an acronym sermon from Acts 1:1-14 on the model of corporate prayer in which we use adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication to pray.

Prayer is the power to the engine of the work of the church.

Acts 1:8

Jesus said that He would give us the power to be witnesses. What is the power that He gives to help us be His witnesses? That power is prayer.

Acts 1:14

When you look a few verses later, these disciples have learned that prayer is essential for witnessing.

I want to share with you a simple formula for prayer. This formula is a simple way for you to use in personal prayer. But today, I want to use it in corporate prayer. I want to spend time during this sermon for us to pray to God in concert. I will share a scripture, a thought, then we will pray, and we will follow it up with a song. (This concert of prayer which uses the ACTS method of prayer allowed all of the congregation to participate.)

Let’s start with A:

Adoration

Adoration is prayer as worship. When I adore someone, I really concentrate on how great that person is. In adoration, I pray to God about how great He is. It is praise in prayer. Let’s spend time praising God.

Prayer of adoration: Call all the women to come forward and then lead in a prayer of adoration.

Song: ___________________

Confession

Confession is when I talk to God about what I have done wrong, or how I have sinned. I want to keep the lines of prayer communication open. To do that, I have to clean out the sin from my spiritual eyes.~

Prayer of confession: Call all the men to come forward and then lead in a prayer of confession.

Song: _____________________

Thanksgiving

Prayer of thanksgiving: Call all the youth and children to come forward and then lead in a prayer of thanksgiving.

Song: ______________________

Supplication

Supplication means that I pray for someone else.~In this case for the church, we tend to pray about people who are sick. However, in the book of Acts, the people pray for the salvation of others. As we have learned, if we are praying for the lost, then we will see God work in their lives and grow the church. So when it comes to supplication, we want to pray for God to supply people who are lost.

I have been praying for ten new families to join the church and for five new leaders. This year, I am going to pray for FIFTY new families and TEN new leaders. So I want you to write on a card one family you know is lost. List whatever you know about them – their name, address, phone number, email, if they are on Facebook. I want you to take time to fill this out and then hand it in during a special prayer offering we will make. I will make an extra this year to visit these lost people. You can join me. I will do this once a month.

Prayer of supplication: Call the deacons to come forward. Have the people fill out a card with names, numbers, email, and other info about a lost person or family. Have the deacons all pray for the lost.

Song: ______________________

Let me end with this quote from John McArthur:

“Unceasing, incessant prayer is essential to the vitality of a believer’s relationship to the Lord and his ability to function in the world.”