A.C.T.S. of Prayer

Chets Creek Church 

40 Days with Jesus – November 1^st  – Luke 11:1-13

In Children’s Ministry we have a huge responsibility to be in a child’s life, and encouraging prayer is such an important part of that.  On Sunday mornings, Children’s Leaders are asked to spend the first 15 minutes building relationships with the children in their small groups; including asking these questions:  1) How was your week?  and,  2) How did God answer prayer for you this week?  Some leaders even keep a prayer journal so that children are reminded, week after week, how God hears and answers prayer.

In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus said, ”So I say to you:  Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  And then, verse 13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

When I was 9 years old, I accepted Christ as my Savior, but I didn’t really know how to grow in that relationship – we went to church on Sunday mornings, but nothing else.  As I became a teenager, I doubted my decision because I had not spent time talking with Jesus through prayer on a regular basis.  My desire is that no children have those kinds of doubts and that they don’t stay “baby” Christians, but grow in Christ.   So in addition to what we do on Sunday mornings,  we also encourage prayer with an awesome tool we send home – our GodTime Card – 4 days of devotions and prayers supporting what we learned that day.

In today’s passage, Jesus even gives us a model to follow in Luke 11:2-4.  I was recently reminded of a simple acrostic that helps me prioritize when I am praying just like the model prayer –

A.C.T.S.

A. – Adoration

C. – Confession

T. – Thanksgiving, and

S. – Supplication (asking)

So we know how to pray, we know God answers prayer, we know God loves it when we talk with Him, and we know our kids are blessed when they pray and when we pray for and with them, so join me as we prioritize prayer.  What an amazing privilege!

Kitty Hogan