Often, prayer, which should be an intimate connection with God, becomes frustrating, marked by embarrassing silences or repetitive requests, lacking depth. Many Christians feel guilty for not praying more or better, but they lack direction.
The ACTS method (worship, confession, thanksgiving – Thanksgiving and supplication) offers a simple biblical script to structure the prayer, making it balanced and meaningful.
This guide explores each step of the method, its biblical foundations and how to apply it in a practical way. It is not a rigid formula, but a tool tested by generations to enrich communion with God.
With ACTS, prayer is no longer an obligation and becomes the high point of the day, bringing confidence and focus to a deeper and more connected spiritual life.
A – Worship: Starting with the heart in the right place
The starting point of a healthy prayer is not our list of needs, but the greatness of God.
Worship is the act of turning the spotlight of our hearts to God and praising him not primarily for what he does, but by whom he is. It is recognizing and declaring His attributes: His holiness, His sovereignty, His faithfulness, His love, His righteousness, His mercy. Starting with worship adjusts our perspective.
God reminds us of the size of the God we are talking to, what shrinks the size of our problems and fills our hearts with reverence and admiration. It is the perfect antidote to an egocentric prayer.
When we focus on who God is, our heart aligns with Dhim, and the rest of our conversation flows from a place of humility and trust.
Worship is what distinguishes us as believers. While the world seeks God for what He can offer, we seek Him for who He is.
Think about how you start a conversation with someone you love and admire deeply. You probably don’t start with a list of orders. You start with a word of affirmation, of admiration. With God, it is the same principle.
Worship puts God on the throne of our prayers, where He belongs, and puts us in our place: on our knees, amazed at His glory. This initial stance changes the tone of our entire prayer, turning it from an anxious monologue into a reverent dialogue.
Biblical passages to inspire worship
The Bible, especially the book of Psalms, is a great worship manual. Psalmists teach us to praise God for His power, His creation, and His character.
The beginning of the prayer that Jesus taught us is also an act of worship: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name’ (Matthew 6:9).
By sanctifying the name of God, we are putting it in a separate category, recognizing its incomparable holiness. In Psalm 95:1-3, the invitation is clear:
‘Come! Let us sing to the Lord with joy!
Let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come to Him with thanksgiving; Let’s acclaim him with songs of praise.
For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all the gods.’
C – Confession: Restoring Intimacy with God
After worshiping God for His holiness and perfection, the next natural step is to recognize our own imperfection and sin.
Confession is not a ritual for us to feel bad or to ‘convince’ God to forgive us. It is the humble and liberating act of agreeing with God about our faults. It’s like taking the garbage out of the house: we don’t do it for pleasure in the dirt, but to restore order, cleanliness and peace in the environment.
In the same way, confession removes the obstacles our sin creates in our intimacy with the Father, cleaning the channel of communion so that we can relate to it in an honest and transparent way. It is an essential step that constantly reminds us of our need for the grace of Christ.
Many Christians avoid confession for fear of condemnation or for pride. But the biblical truth is that, for the believer, this prayer does not lead to punishment, but to purification. It is an act of faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
When we confess, we are not informing God about something he does not know, but we are aligning ourselves with the truth ofHe about us. We are admitting our need and opening space to receive His restorative grace.
A life of prayer without confession is like trying to talk to a close friend while hiding a secret from him; Communication can even happen, but true intimacy is impossible.
The Promise of Confession
The apostle John gives us one of the safest promises of the Bible in 1 John 1:9: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Observe the words: God is ‘faithful and righteous’ in forgiving us. faithful to his character of love and righteous because of the sacrifice of Christ, who has already paid for these sins.
Psalm 51, David’s prayer of repentance after his adultery with Bathsheba, serves as a timeless model of a broken and honest heart, which seeks no excuses, but yearns for the purification and restoration of the joy of salvation.
t (thanksgiving) – Thanksgiving: the antidote to anxiety
While worship focuses on who God is, Thanksgiving (thanksgiving) focuses on what god does and has already done. It is the discipline of recognizing and verbalizing our gratitude for your blessings, your answers to prayers, your daily sustenance and, above all, for the gift of salvation. A grateful heart is a healthy heart.
Gratitude is the most powerful antidote against murmuring, envy and anxiety. It changes our focus from what we lack for what we already have. It forces us to remember God’s faithfulness in the past, which strengthens our faith for the future.
As Philippians 4:6 teaches us, thanksgiving is the ingredient that, mixed with prayer, produces the peace of God in our hearts.
Gratitude is a deliberate choice. It is the decision to look beyond the immediate problems and see the hand of God working in all things.
It is a discipline that needs to be cultivated, because our natural tendency is to focus on what is wrong.
As we practice thanksgiving, we are training our hearts to see the world through the lens of God’s providence.
This does not mean denying pain or problems, but choosing to give more weight to God’s goodness than to the weight of our circumstances.
A Christian who murmurs is someone who has forgotten what God has already delivered him; A grateful Christian is someone who lives with the fresh memory of Calvary.
The Commandment of Gratitude
Gratitude is not optional for the believer; It is God’s will for us. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul instructs, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’
Pay attention that Paul does not say to give thanks by all circumstances but in all circumstances. This means that even in the darkest valley, we can still find reasons to thank: for the presence of God with us, for his promises, for the hope of eternity.
Gratitude, therefore, is not based on our feelings, but on the immutable truth of God’s character.
S – Supplication: presenting your requests with child confidence
Finally, after having set our hearts through worship, confession and gratitude, we come to supplication.
This is the time to present our requests to God, both for ourselves (petition) and for others (intercession). Far from being a selfish act, supplication is an act of deep dependence and faith.
When we ask, we are declaring that God is the source of every good gift and that we trust in his power and in his desire to take care of us. Jesus repeatedly invites us to ask, seek and beat.
This prayer is not about convincing a reluctant God, but about talking to a loving father who delights in giving good gifts to his children and invites us to participate in his purposes through intercession.
It is at this point of prayer that we exercise our faith more concretely. We present the anxieties of our heart, the needs of our family, the pains of our friends and the burdens of the world before the throne of grace.
Intercession, in particular, is one of the greatest acts of love that we can practice. As we pray for others, we are participating with God in his work of restoration in the world.
Supplication teaches us to depend, to persevere and to rejoice when we see the hand of God moving in answer to the prayers of his children.
It takes us out of the center and places us as participants in the great drama of God’s redemption.
the invitation to ask
The Bible is full of invitations to take our requests to God. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus says, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; they seek, and they will find; they will knock, and the door will be opened to them.’ In John 16:24, he goes further: ‘Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and receive, that your joy may be complete.’
The prayer of supplication is not a burden to God; It is a source of joy for us. It is the means by which we experience his care and his power in a personal and transforming way.
One of the most powerful forms of pleading is to ‘pray the word’, transforming God’s promises in the Scriptures in our own petitions, praying with the confidence that we are asking according to the revealed will ofhe.
Conclusion: Acts method
The journey of prayer is the journey of a lifetime. The ACTS method is not a straitjacket, but an invitation to dance with God – a dance that begins with the eyes on it (worship), moves to a look inside (confession), expands in gratitude for what surrounds us (thanksgiving) and extends in confidence for the future. (supplication).
By practicing this structure, you will discover a new and deeper rhythm in your communion with the Father. You will realize that your prayer life will become less about you and your needs and more about God and your glory.
Don’t worry about following the order perfectly every time. Use the method as a guide, a map to help you not get lost. In a few days, your time will be almost entirely in worship; In others, your broken heart will need to linger on confession.
The important thing is the intention to have a complete and balanced conversation with the God who loves you. May this simple guide be the beginning of a richer, more honest and transformative prayer life, moving you from the monologue of anxiety to the dialogue of peace.
Which part of the ACTS method are you most excited to put into practice today?
- Aroer – 10 de October de 2025
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