Thanksgiving should not be a once-a-year event. It should be the perpetual attitude of our hearts. In fact thanksgiving is inextricably woven together with the principles of prayer. Too often people think of prayer is a way to Get things from God. In reality it is about intimacy with God. A memorable way of prioritizing the principles for developing intimacy with God through prayer is the acronym F-A-C-T-S and it starts with the prayer of faith.
FAITH is only as good as the object in which it is placed. Put another way, it is the object of faith that renders faith, faithful. The secret is not in the phrases we utter but in coming to know even more fully the One to whom we pray. Since God is revealed in His word, the prayer of faith must always be rooted in scripture. R.A.Torrey stated it well when he said
“to pray the prayer of faith we must, first of all, study the Word of God, especially the promises of God, and find out what the will of God is….we cannot believe just by trying to make ourselves believe, such belief as that is not belief but credulity: it is “make believe”. The great warrant for intelligent faith is faith in Gods word. “
Paul puts it in Romans 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ” Jesus summed up the prayer of faith with these words “if you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you (John 15:7.
Faith in God naturally leads to ADORATION. Prayer without adoration is like a body without a soul. Through adoration we express our heartfelt love and longing for God. This inevitably leads to praise and worship, as our thoughts are focused on the greatness of God. Psalm 95: 6-7 is a great example
Come let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His Hand.
Psalm are filled with exclamations of CONFESSION. While un-confessed sin will not break our relationship with God, it will break our communion with God. Therefore confession is a crucial aspect of daily prayer. The concept of confession carries the acknowledgement that we stand guilty before God. There is no place for self-righteousness before God.
Nothing , and I mean nothing is more basic to prayer than THANKSGIVING. Scripture teaches us to “enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.(Psalm 100:4) Paul says that pagans know about God but they neither glorify or give thanks to Him.
We will now address the final letter in the acronym, SUPPLICATION. Let us be ever mindful that the purpose of supplication is not to pressure God into providing us with pleasures and provisions, but rather to conform us to His purposes . If we approach God with confidence , that if we ask He will respond but only if we kneel in faith, adoration, confession and thanksgiving.
May your prayer life be filled with these principles and may your communion with God be a blessing to you. Amen
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