Thursday, May 7, is the yearly National Day of Prayer; a day set aside every year in the United States when people of every faith belief are asked to join together to pray in their own way. We, as Christians, turn our hearts to God and raise our voices to the One we know as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the world in which we live.

I can remember as a small child being told to “pray” and responding, “I don’t know how.” It was then I was told that prayer is just simply having a conversation with God. I tried that but the difficulty was that I was doing all the talking, and I didn’t hear God saying anything back to me.

So, for those who would respond to me and say, “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t know how to begin,” let me offer you a simple method that uses the acronym ACTS. It is easy to remember because it is just like the New Testament book in the Bible we refer to as the Acts of the Apostles.

You simply begin talking to God using each of the letters of the word ACTS.

A stands for the word “Adoration.”

When you begin to pray, you simply start by giving God adoration because God is God and you are not. We adore God the Father for the gift of all creation, for the world around us, for our very own lives, for family friends — the list can be almost endless.

We adore Jesus for his life among us and for his example of how to live in right relationship with the Father and with one another. We adore Jesus as the Christ, the promised One of God who would save us from sins and show us the way to Kingdom life. And we adore the Holy Spirit for dwelling in us and among us with wisdom and grace that enables us to live as devoted followers of the Lord Jesus and work at bringing all of creation to completion as the Kingdom of God.

C stands for “Contrition.”

There is no doubt that while we strive to be faithful and good, we all fall short of being who we were created to be. We fail as followers of Jesus by the words we say and deeds we do, and we also fail by the things we don’t do or don’t say when the Holy Spirit has prompted us.

Contrition is not a matter of judging oneself, it is simply an honest look at ourselves and saying from our heart, “God, I am sorry!” And the gifts in the moment are mercy and grace, which are immediately offered and available to be received.

T stands for the word “Thanksgiving.”

The spiritual writer, Bro. David Steindl-Rast, says that if there is only one word we could ever pray or one prayer we could ever express, it should be a prayer of gratitude. When we take just a moment to consider our lives, there is so very much that we can be thankful for. Stop, pause, look around, and then just let the prayer of thanksgiving flow from your heart and your lips to the glory of God. You just might have to stop yourself because the list might be endless.

S stands for the word “Supplication,” which simply means asking.

What is interesting is that when we start to pray, we most often start right here, asking God for all the things that we want and all the things we would like God to fix or handle or heal or answer. If we were truly honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that when it comes to God, we expect that He will hear our prayers of supplication and then answer our requests with things the way we want them and when we want them, as if God is always at our beck and call. How appropriate would it be for us to offer God the adoration, contrition, and thanksgiving before we begin asking for anything else?

As someone who has spent his entire life learning, practicing, and teaching spiritual disciplines and practices, let me say that this is perhaps the simplest approach to prayer. There are many, many more ways to pray, and as we grow in our spiritual life, we should explore the differences and use new ways.

It is a good reminder to know that God, just like any parent, loves to hear the simplest of phrases like, “I really love you,” “I am sorry for what I’ve done,” and “Thank you for what you have done for me.” Before we get to “Could I please have...”

If you will employ this simple acronym of ACTS and then open your heart and sit a few minutes in silence, God will enter the conversation with you and respond. And just maybe, you will hear what God has to say.