May 31-June 21 Worship Series
Prayer is something we often think we should just be able to do because, well, we believe. We forget that Jesus had to teach his disciples how to pray. In our first summer series, we will be using the acronym ACTS to teach prayer. ACTS stands for prayers of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. We typically pray by focusing on one or perhaps two of those kinds of prayer, but a well-rounded prayer life intentionally utilizes each of them.
May 31: Psalm 104:1-13
We love someone because they make us feel good or because they make us better than we would be without them. Those are good things. But true love is loving someone simply because of who they are. Our prayer life begins not with asking God for things, or for thanking God for what God gives to us. Our prayer life begins with adoration, with rejoicing in God for who God is.
June 7: Job 13:20-24
At its root, a prayer of confession is an admission that God is God and we are not. We confess that we would take the place of God, that we would be gods to other people and over God’s good creation. And as we confess that we would take God’s place, we ask for guidance and give thanks for God’s continuing love.
June 14: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
When God told Peter to eat what God set before him, Peter objected that he had never eaten anything unclean. God’s response? “I made it. I make good things.” When we thank God in prayer, we do not give thanks for the things that agree with our biases or the things we like. We give thanks because everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected.
June 21: Matthew 6:7-13
You know what empty calories are, right? Think high fructose corn syrup, the additive in many processed foods that adds calories but does nothing to nourish the body. The same is true of empty phrases we pile up in prayer when we are trying to impress God or others. Instead, Jesus tells us our prayers should be unfiltered and unadorned. “Here’s the thing,” he says, “just go to God and say, Mom/Dad, here are the things I need.”