As a new Christian, 16 years ago, I was taught the ACTS model of prayer:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
It is a good framework for prayer but we can end up saying very little if all we say is “I love you God”; “I confess to you that I have done/not done…”; “I thank you for…” and “please Lord…” followed by whatever is on our mind at the time.
Last year at St Luke’s we were joined by a ministry trainee from Ghana whose prayers were laced with scripture. I was learning memory verses with my kids at he time and so I found it fairly easy to begin praying using bits of God’s word. This had made rote learning lots of the bible much more important for me.
A friend said recently “I’d love to pray like that in my CU but suspect I’d be told to keep it short and simple and to stop showing off.” It would be a great shame if Christians discouraged each other from memorising and praying the words of God. British evangelicals could take a lead from West Africa and encourage one another with these words (1 Thess 4:18).
