A few weeks ago, my friends and I sat around a table for a Bible study, and our conversation turned to the practical struggles of prayer. Why does prayer sometimes feel dull or exhausting? In a difficult season of life, our energy and excitement for prayer can wane. We perceive prayer as dutiful correspondence rather than the wonderful communion it promises to be. While it is not the point of prayer to give us an emotional boost, continually experiencing “dry,” unsatisfying prayer can undermine prayer in our eyes as a means of grace. Among the other blessings of the Lord’s Supper, baptism, church fellowship, and the Scriptures, prayer is another way God bestows his life-giving grace upon his people. True communion with our heavenly Father should not bore or burden us.
Midway through our conversation, I recommended the ACTS model of prayer to my friends because it prioritizes adoration, placing it first among the following elements: A–Adoration, C–Confession, T–Thanksgiving, S–Supplication, or making requests of God. Reflecting on my own prayers, I have learned that spending the bulk of my time in adoration makes a key difference. Consider that the very first line of the Lord’s Prayer is one of adoration: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). Practically, how does adoration improve our prayers?
Adoration Anchors Us
In contrast to the other elements in prayer, which involve more self-examination (confession) or examining our external circumstances (thanksgiving and supplication), adoration lifts our gaze upward to God. When we meditate on who God is, our prayers become rooted in the eternal, unchanging God—rather than our ever-changing lives and experiences. In this way, adoration does much to prevent prayer from becoming mere motivational self-talk.
When the prophet Elijah asks God to confound the prophets of Baal, he opens his prayer with the following: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel” (1 Kings 18:36). Even in the face of potential spiritual disaster for Israel, Elijah takes the time to acknowledge God’s status. For his request will be meaningless unless God is still the God of Israel, willing to defend his people and his reputation.
Our lives contain sins both wicked and mundane, experiences both happy and painful. Whatever we bring to God in confession, thanksgiving, or supplication is probably a jumble of mixed thoughts and emotions, unless we first rehearse the truths of God’s character and deeds. Dwelling on the riches of God’s triune nature, listing his names and attributes, and attributing glory to him helps us to make sense of our lives in light of his unchanging reality. Adoration thus makes confession, thanksgiving, and supplication far more meaningful because it reminds us who we are praying to—why God alone is qualified to forgive our sins, why he is responsible for every blessing we have, and why we ought to turn to him in our distress. Adoration anchors us.
Adoration Surprises Us
While there are many examples of biblical adoration to imitate and learn from, one of my favorite instances takes place in Psalm 29. In verses 1–8, images of thunder, fire, floods, and shattered forests demonstrate God’s power and majesty. But a different image appears in verse 9. Here, in the same breath, the psalmist pairs an image of strength with one of gentleness: “The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” (Ps. 29:9). The image of a deer giving birth subverted my expectations as I read this psalm. The God whose majestic strength “shakes the wilderness” (Ps. 29:8) is, astonishingly, the same whose hands bring the fawn out of its mother’s womb. God’s gentleness in the midst of his displays of power caught my attention and helped me to adore him.
Adoration can not only anchor us but also lead to surprise, exhilaration, and joy as we realize that our God’s beauty and goodness are inexhaustible. The more we contemplate the character of our God, the more he shocks us with how well he deserves our cry, “Glory!”
The Importance of Adoration
Our struggles with prayer are diverse. Perhaps we focus excessively on our guilt before a holy God. Perhaps we feel bored with the repetitious cycle of asking again and again for our longings to be granted. Perhaps our human words seem insufficient to address the overwhelming suffering in our lives. Truly, our words are insufficient unless our words are inspired by God himself.
I am not suggesting that all our prayers ought to include eloquent praise for the sake of fulfilling a formality. But if in prayer we habitually focus more on ourselves and our circumstances rather than on who God is, we are missing out altogether on the point of prayer: communion with our triune Creator.
Ask God to reveal himself more to you. Let your view of God become more specific to his character and actions as revealed in his word. Adore him and enjoy him forever.
