Praying the Psalms with A-C-T-S

by Phil Corr

The book of Psalms can be used as a book of prayer that helps you in your prayer life.

You can use an acronym to help you pray through the Psalms and in your own prayer life. An acronym is a word where each letter is the beginning of a word. The acrostic word that is so helpful in prayer is A-C-T-S.

"A" stands for Adoration. In the case of this acronym, the order is important. God wants us to focus on Him in adoration, praise and worship. In what is called The Lord's Prayer (but could more accurately called The Disciples' Prayer), adoration comes first.

Right after we acknowledge the blessed truth that God is our Father, we have the pattern of prayer that says, "Hallowed be Thy Name." We acknowledge that He is holy. Holiness ties in with worship and adoration.

Adoration, praise and worship are found throughout the book of Psalms, just as adoration and praise should infuse our entire life. Paul calls us to pray without ceasing. That has to do with our thought life. It is an attitude of the heart.

As we move through this life, seven days of the week, let us be praising God in prayer, through our thoughts and our words. May all that we say and do be an act of worship and praise to our God. As we do that, we will be a blessing to God and to others.

In Psalm 148, the entire universe—both spiritual and physical—praises God. It is as though a camera begins in heaven and pans down to earth.

First, the angels and heavenly hosts praise the Lord. This has to do with spiritual heaven. Then the physical heavenly bodies chime in--sun, moon and shining stars.

Then the camera moves to the earth and the area around the earth--sea creatures, the ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds.

Mountains and hills are to praise the Lord. Trees and animals. Elsewhere in the Psalms we read of trees clapping their praise to God!

Then we behold humans, made in God's image, praising God. We read, "Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for His Name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens."

I hope that adoration, praise and worship of the Lord are an important part of your prayer life. but I need to warn you, that as you praise God and draw close to Him, something will happen that will make you feel uncomfortable. You will sense the need for...

Confession, of your sins. This is the "C" in the acronym. You will understand as you draw close in adoration of the holy God that you are a sinful person. And, no sin can be present in the presence of the glorious, righteous God.

God understands the gulf between His holiness and our sinfulness. He knows that our first parents sinned and that is when sins originated.

I think it was G. K. Chesterton who said something like the following, "Original sin is the only doctrine that can be empirically proven."

Just look around the world. There is war. But you do not need to look so far afield. There is war in relationships. People saying and doing things that hurt each other and themselves. People sin against God. Individuals are at war within themselves.

In one sense we cannot help it, because sin is part of our nature. But we are still responsible because we can chose not to sin. But sin is so ingrained in us that Paul cries out in Romans 7:15, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do I do."

There is an entire Psalm that has to do with confession of sin by a human and restoration by God. The Bible calls King David "A man after God's own heart." Many of the Psalms, including number 51, were written by David.

But David, called by God to be the king, the shepherd of Israel, had major flaws. He could sin big time. And his confession of major sin is found in Psalm 51.

The introductory part of Psalm 51 tells us a great deal in just a few words: "A Psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had commited adultery with Bathsheba."

Not only did David commit adultery with Uriah's wife and conceive a child by her, he then tried to cover this up by having Uriah killed on the battlefield. David is guilty of the sins of adultery and murder.

It takes a confrontation by the courageous prophet of God named Nathan to get David to confess his sins.

You might be smuggly thinking you have never done such a thing as David. I would encourage you to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to understand that sin is a matter of the heart.

In Jesus' sermon and the letter written by James, we see that the Ten Commandments are to be followed in thought as well as deed.

In this Psalm of prayerful confession, David first asks God for mercy. You might recall the definition of mercy as being "not getting what you deserve"--in other words, eternal punishment.

David recognizes and admits his sin to God in verses three and four: "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. against You, You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."

There is so much to share on prayer and confession from Psalm 51. In verse eleven he prays, "Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me."

In verse 12 he seeks restoration for the purpose given in verse 13, "Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You."

Or, as it has been put "one beggar showing another beggar where he can find bread."

Turning sinners back to God. The fancy word for that is "repentance." Repentance means turning from sin and turning to God. It is an integral, vital part of confession.

I encourage you to read Psalm 51 as a prayer of confession from your heart. I also want you to know that--for Christians--God has provided a means of restoration.

In First John 1:9 we read that "if we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

And, returning to Romans 7, listen to Paul in verses 24&25, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Paul's words lead us to the "T" of the acronym, which is

Thanksgiving. The ultimate psalm of thanksgiving is number 136. Each verse of that psalm gives us something to be thankful for--whether it is God's goodness in verse one, or giving thanks directly to the God of heaven in the last verse.

Psalm 136 also has a refrain in each verse: "His love endures forever." That is something to be thankful for also.

I hope your prayer life is a bouquet of thanksgiving. Having an attitude of gratitude also ties in with adoring God for Whom He is and what He ahs done.

Have you ever heard the "Veggie Tale" thanksgiving song? Children and grown ups--who do not necessarily have a lot of "stuff," the material things of the world--sing this song, which sometimes is my family's prayer of grace before meals: "A thankful heart is a happy heart; we're glad for what we have, that's an easy way to start. I thank God 'cause He cares And He listens to my prayers. That's why I say thanks every day."

As I mentioned earlier, this prayer acronym has a definite and purposeful order: first we adore God. As we praise and worship Him, we realize our sinfulness, so there is confession. When we understand that He forgives us, we have much to be thankful for. Then, after these three kinds of prayer--adoration, confession and thanksgiving--we should feel free to talk with God about the needs of others and our own needs. At this point in prayer, God wants us to ask, to make...

Supplication to Him. Supplication is a fancy word that simply means "ask." It comes from the old days when people would make a request of a king, or some other person in a position of authority--someone who could respond to a request and take action--get things done, make things right.

God wants us to make petition, supplication to Him. But I hope that--even in this part of your prayer life--you will remember another acronym: Jesus, others, yourself (JOY).

Remembering again the Lord's prayer, ask God that His Kingdom would come on earth. Pray that God's perfect will would be done one earth as it is in heaven.

Pray for others—families, frinds, even enemies—that they would come into a saving knowledge of Jesus, and become disciples who would worship God, serve, and share Jesus with others.

Then God will delight in hearing your own supplications, whether it is in the area of relationships, finances, health, what have you.

God delights in answering your requests. But even here, I hope your primary purpose and passion will be to have more of Jesus, to ask to become more like Him in humility and service.

As David writes in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 90 is a prayer of adoration and supplication. Verse one recognizes the stable, enduring presence of God: "Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations."

In verse twelve, a request is made: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

And in verse fourteen, "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Prayers for missions are found in the Psalms. Read Psalm 96:3: "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."

A-C-T-S. May you be engaged in the "ACTS" of prayer!