The ACTS of Prayer IV: Supplication

Supplication is the final component to the ACTS of prayer. What is Supplication? On its basic level it is praying for your needs and the needs of others to be met by God. Why do you think that this component comes last after Adoration, Confession and Thanks?

But doesn’t God know what we need already? Today we will be diving into not just how we are to ask for God to meet our needs but why, even though God knows everything, do we still need to take our needs before Him.

Asking God according to His will
1. 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
  1. What are some things that you know are "according to God's will"?
    1. Love for others
    2. Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)
    3. Opportunity to share the Gospel with others
    4. Remember from our previous study in Communicating with God, God is not here to give us what we want, He is here to give us what He wants for us. It is our role as his children to want what he wants for us.
  2. John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
    1. God commands us to pray according to his will but we don't always know what that will is or how to ask. That is when the Holy Spirit, that part of God that resides in you, comes to the rescue. We will be touching on this more in a separate study about the Holy Spirit.
2. James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
  1. What are some things you know are NOT "according to God's will"?
    1. Something that would hurt or stumble someone else
    2. Something that feeds our flesh and not our spirit
    3. Something that would make us bad examples of Christ
    4. Something that would give us the glory and not God
God's command to pray
1. Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
  1. Remember though that God doesn't just want us to pray for ourselves but ALL of the Lord's people.
2. Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
3. Scripture tells us that it is God's command that we pray "all kinds of prayers and requests".
4. If God tells us to pray and ask for things then when we do we are being obedient. We should never feel guilty for submitting our requests to God through prayer.
But doesn’t God already know?
1. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
2. When we do ask God for things we’re also expressing our dependence on him, acknowledging that he is in control of all of the details of our lives, and we need his involvement - all true prayer is faith in action.

APPLY

Please write out a whole prayer using all four ACTS of prayer that you have learned:

Christin CordovaApril 18, 2019