Adoration & Praise in Prayer

If we continue in the model of the Disciple’s Prayer we can use the acronym of ACTS to guide our prayer:
A – Adoration
C - Confession
T – Thanksgiving
S – Supplication
We exalt and praise Him for who He is.
Ps 147:1 Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Heb 13:15-16 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name.
He is worthy of our praise. When we praise Him we take our focus off of our belly button and we put it squarely on Him. It goes hand in hand with knowing Him whom we pray to. If we truly know who it is we are praying to, then by virtue of being God, He deserves our praise. Giving voice to that praise puts our relationship in the proper perspective. He is God and we are His creation. While He calls us sons and daughters, there can be no reaching for His level. The creation is always inferior and subservient to the Creator.
Not only do we praise Him for who He is, we also praise Him for what he has done.
Ps 150:2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Luke 1:68 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
Everything that we are we owe to Him. Everything that we have we owe to Him. Everything that will be we owe to Him. In this lies our hope.
Ps 126:2-3 Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them. The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”
Praising Him sets the tone for our prayer. It is uplifting. It points toward our source. It recognizes that He is God and we are not.
Ps 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
Job probably had the best perspective of praise. Like David he knew what it is to suffer. Like David he complained to the Lord about his suffering. But to me, the greatest line of praise in the entire Bible is this:
Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. 

That, is perspective.

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