Hello  

To help us become a worldwide caring community, praying community and community of power, we are sending out monthly prayer and bible reading resources, including bible reading plans, memory verses and some teaching on prayer.

We hope you find these resources useful and helpful.

Bible Reading Plans

Read the Bible with us this month as we look at two reading plans. The first is an 8-week plan to help build your spiritual fitness and the second plan is about biblical leadership. You can access them on the YouVersion app or website.

Memory Verse

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

1 Timothy 4:8 NIV   

Prayer Teaching

A.C.T.S Prayer Model

Sara Jukes

ACTS is a framework to pray by, providing a series of prayer techniques to involve in your prayer time. It stands for:
A – adoration
C – confession
T – thanksgiving
S – supplication (or asking)

Setting up ways to pray and adding structure to your prayer life, helps you to focus, especially if you find it difficult to pray.

Let’s break down each section:

Adoration - The Bible says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." (Psalm 100:4) Praise and adoration are our key to the house of God and His presence. Adoration brings us into our Father’s presence and is our pathway to intimacy. How can we not adore Him for all He has done, all He is doing and for all He is?

Confession - The Bible says that if we confess our sins, then God will forgive us. That means we need to talk to Him about the things that we do wrong and admit that we need His forgiveness.

Confession follows adoration because when we truly see God for who He is, it is impossible to be unrepentant for all of our sin when we are in the presence of a pure and good God. In seeing all of His goodness and kindness and love we realise how much we fall short of His glory and yet, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8.) It was this act of selflessness by Jesus that allows us to confess and be forgiven.

Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving flows out of confession, because with true confession and forgiveness we can't help but be thankful to our Father for His grace and mercy over our lives.

His forgiveness is not the only thing that we have to be thankful for. We can thank Him for our health, our friends, our families, our jobs, and our homes.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

There is so much to be thankful for, but if you feel like there is nothing going right for you or nothing good has ever happened to you, then keep believing and thanking Him for the small things.

Supplication - During this part of your prayer time, you can ask God to provide, to help, to look after others etc.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:4-5
 

Whether your prayers get answered straight away or not, ask, ask and keep on asking.

Practical / Prayer Steps

Adoration: Make a list of reasons you can praise God

Confession: Spend some time in quiet prayer, asking God to reveal things that you need to confess to Him

Thanksgiving: Keep a gratitude journal and write things you are thankful for each day

Supplication: Keep a prayer diary to record when your prayers are answered and encourage you to keep praying for yourself and others

Extra Reading

Adoration: Jude 24-25, Isaiah 12, Psalm 150

Confession: Matthew 3:6, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16

Thanksgiving: Ephesians 5:20, Psalm 100

Supplication: James 4:3, Luke 11:9-13