Читать книгу Admiring and Applauding God - R. Bruce Stevens - Страница 7

I was taught early on that when it comes to prayer, there are four basic components: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication, known by the acronym ACTS. Eventually I found it more helpful to revise this handy framework into terms easier for me to identify with—PCAT, for Praise, Confession, Asking, and Thanksgiving.

I found that of these four parts of prayer, I could easily spend time in three. I was aware of both my own sinfulness and blessedness, so Confession and Thanksgiving were easy. And of course, who struggles with the Asking part of prayer? But Praise—now, that was a different matter. It was not for lack of desire that I struggled to praise God in prayer. I wanted to praise him as the Psalmist instructs, “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Ps 103:1), but I just could not think of a way to consistently do so when I prayed. I sense many Christians struggle in much the same way.

I also found that I struggled to keep clear in my mind the distinction between thanking God and praising him. What I found helpful was this: Thanksgiving in prayer focuses on what God has done for me or has given to me, while Praise focuses on the person of God himself—what kind of person he is. Perhaps an example would be helpful. God is a Planner. Praising God as a Planner would focus on his amazing ability to make and implement plans for the world, nations, families, and individual people. Whereas we struggle to make plans for one day, even for one person, much less to successfully carry them out, God effortlessly makes plans for billions of people and carries out these plans flawlessly. How amazing is he to do that! Thanksgiving would focus on thanking God for his plans—past, present and future, including the plan of salvation, the plan to bring all things under the Lordship of Christ, and the plans he has for us and our loved ones.

I believe that God, in response to my desire to learn how to better praise and adore him, gave me an immensely practical insight to help me when I pray. It is my hope that what has proven helpful for me will aid my readers as well.

For several years during my devotional time, I had been noting the Bible passages that gave insight into the person and working of God. When it first happened, it was as if a light bulb went off. I began to see praiseworthy aspects of God’s character and nature everywhere. These insights enabled me to focus on his greatness and goodness, leading me to naturally delight in him and spend time complimenting him on his admirable qualities. Most of the words I found were verbs, which I then converted into nouns. Some of the terms I came up with may cause grammarians to cringe a bit; nevertheless, I believe the form is helpful in conveying certain aspects of God’s nature.

The verses I use are from the 1984 edition of the New International Version (NIV). If you use the NIV, you might find that your version may have some slightly different phrasing due to revisions to the NIV since it was first published.