Have you ever heard people pray and wonder what in the world they are doing?
Today, we are going to talk about prayer. For you and I to have a close relationship with God, we have to spend some time talking to God. And that is what prayer is. It’s just you talking to God about anything and everything that is going on in your life.
I would encourage you to start your day with a couple of minutes of prayer, just talking to God about what is coming up for your day. Then as the day goes by, shoot up short little sentence prayers. If you have a test coming up, shoot up a quick prayer before you start the test. You are going to need it. When you see that pretty girl or that good-looking guy that you want to talk to, shoot up a prayer and ask God to give you the opportunity to talk to them. When you have a misunderstanding with a friend and you need to go and work it out, pray before you meet with them.
Our goal is to start our day with prayer, then spend our day shooting up short little prayers and then end our day with a quick prayer before we go to sleep.
Let’s talk about how to do this practically– because when I first gave my life to Jesus, I didn’t have a clue how to pray or what to say when I prayed.
Let’s first look at what prayer isn’t.
Can you imagine when you get older and have kids, they come to you and say, “Oh great and magnificent one, it is thine honor to be in your presence and do thy bidding.” Don't lie, some of you may think that’s funny, but I wouldn't want my kids to do that. Prayer is just talking to God like you talk to anyone else. It’s not about big words.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:7-8, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them.”
There were people back in Jesus’ time that thought the length of a person’s prayer was what would impress God. I mean if you only prayed for thirty seconds God might miss it, but if you prayed for an hour they thought God would be so impressed that He would just give you whatever you wanted. The power of our prayers isn’t in the length of our prayers, but the power in our prayers comes from the One we are talking to.
Most prayers recorded in the Bible could be prayed in 60 seconds or less. Don’t think you have to talk to God for a long time. Again, I like to send short sentence prayers to God about what is going on in my life all day long.
Prayer is not about a wish list of things we expect God to do for us. And you know what, this kind of disturbs us because we want to learn how to pray in such a way that we can get God to say yes to what we want. But prayer isn’t about changing God. Prayer is about changing us.
What should we talk to God about in prayer? We can talk to Him about anything and we should talk to Him about everything. This is the way I look at it. If it concerns you, it concerns Him, and He wants you to just share your heart with Him.
When I was a new Christian, I didn’t know what to say to God. One day a friend shared with me a little acronym that helped me a lot.
The acronym is A.C.T.S.
A = APPRECIATION
What does that word mean? When we begin to pray we get to think about how amazing it is that we get the privilege of talking to God and appreciate all He is. When we start our prayers, we begin telling God something about Him that we love about Him. Something that we admire about Him.
Think about this. The God who created the universe wants to spend time with me. The God who gave His only son to die on a cross for my sin and my shame wants to spend all of eternity with me. When you stop and think about it, there is a lot about God that we can adore.
His character is holy.
His truth is absolute.
His strength is unending.
His forgiveness is unconditional.
His plan is perfect.
He is always faithful.
He always cares about us.
And He is never too busy for us.
When I spend a few moments telling God how great He is, it keeps my life and my problems in perspective. It reminds me that God is bigger than anything I will face today and knowing He is there for me is a huge game-changer for my life. He can handle whatever it is that I am facing.
C = CONFESSION
This is where we spend a few moments confessing our sin. We are all going to blow it. I mean like every day we are going to blow it. When a person confesses their sins, that person is agreeing with God that what they did was wrong.
I think we should confess our sins one by one. I think it is kind of a cop-out just to say “God please forgive me for all my sins.” When I used to pray that prayer, I never really changed my behavior because I was glossing over what I had done.
When we confess our sins one by one, it causes us to think about the damage that we did to ourselves, to another person, and the very heart of God. If you said something you shouldn’t have said, if you did something you shouldn’t have done, if you ignored a need that you could have met, you need to confess that to God.
The Bible says in James 4:17, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”
By confessing my sins every day, it stops pride from raising its ugly head in my life and causing me to think I am all that. By confessing my sins, I am always reminded that I am still a work in progress and that I need Jesus now more than ever before.
Here is how some of my confessions have gone over the years–
Yesterday I hurt my friend with my words. I was cruel, insensitive, and sinful.
Last night I made a promise to one of my friends and then I didn’t keep it.
I looked when I should have looked away.
I gossiped when I should have kept my mouth shut.
I lied and exaggerated to make myself look better than I am.
I had a chance to make a difference with my life by meeting a need, and I didn’t do anything to help the person out.
When we pray, we start by adoring God, then we confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness. The next letter is a “T”.
T = THANKFUL
This is our chance to thank God for all that He has done for us. I have so much to be thankful for and so do you.
I can thank God for my family, my friends, the place I live. I can thank God for sending His Son to die for me.
I can thank God for His patience and kindness that He shows me every day.
I can thank Him for my food.
I can thank Him that He has given me gifts, talents, and abilities that I get to use for His purposes.
S = SEEKING
This is another big word that means we now ask God for what we need. This is where I pray for my needs and the needs of others.
I pray for my family. I pray for each of my family members one by one.
I pray for my friends.
I pray for those who God has put in my life that don’t have a relationship with Him. I ask God to use me to help them see that what they are missing in their life is a relationship with Jesus.
I pray that in everything I say and do, I would respond as Jesus would respond.
Remember God wants to talk to us, He wants us to spend time with Him. This week I want to encourage you to use this acronym. When you pray, remember to say the things you appreciate about God, confess your sins, thank God for what He has done, and then ask Him for what you need.
Let's pray together.
Lord, I pray for these students that they will talk to you each and every day. I pray they would start their day talking to you and all day long they would talk to you about what is going on in their life, and before they put their head on their pillow tonight, I pray they would talk to you again. Thank you that you are a God who cares about us and that you are a God who is never too busy to listen to us. We love you and we want to get as close to you as we can be. In Jesus' name, amen.
Never forget it is impossible to have a close relationship with someone that you never talk to, so spend some time each day with God and enjoy each and every moment of your day with Him.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
