The ACTS model of prayer gives us four modes in which to practice praying: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. This model begins with recognizing who holy God is and what he has done. Adoration leads to confessing that our sin is offensive to God and we are in need of restoration. Thanksgiving becomes the natural response to a life inwardly changed by the mercy and holiness of God.
These three prayers lead us to the final mode of prayer, supplication. Supplication tends to be the mode of prayer we lean most heavily into. This is because there are so many things in life we cannot handle on our own. Supplication often occurs when we are looking to make life-altering decisions, have specific desires, parameters, or are working toward certain goals. We may be seeking help, requesting a blessing, or looking out for the well-being of another. These are all good things to ask for, but what is true supplication and how do we grow in this area?
Supplication: The Mode We Rely On Most
Supplication is an earnest request for help where the answer is totally dependent on someone else to intercede on your behalf. The Psalmists leave us many examples of supplication. They cry for justice, health, home, a secure future, and promises to be fulfilled. One model of supplication is given to us by David in Psalm 54.
“God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might! God, hear my prayer; listen to the words from my mouth. For strangers rise up against me, and violent men intend to kill me. They do not let God guide them.” — Psalm 54:1–3
Many of David’s early Psalms are requests for help, deliverance, and redemption. He spent the whole of his young adult life running from King Saul and fighting Israel’s enemies, yet each prayer for help was proclaimed with hope.
In Psalm 54, David was once again on the run from King Saul. This time David hid amongst his own kinsmen in a region of the tribe of Judah. Unfortunately, a group of men in this region plotted to hand him over to King Saul. David caught wind of this betrayal and fled with Saul’s men hot on his heels (1 Samuel 23:19–29).
Anchored in Hope
Betrayal, enemy attacks, wilderness wanderings—any one of these things would be enough to drive a man to cry out to God for help. But David’s plea is not anchored in despair. It’s anchored in hope. Before the Ziphites betrayed David, Jonathan, Saul’s son and David’s best friend, found David and gave him these words of hope:
“Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I’ll be your second in command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.” — 1 Samuel 23:17
Years previously, the prophet Samuel had anointed David to be the next king of Israel. David’s future and hope were secured in the promise of God. Enemies may rise up against him, brother might betray brother, sickness and fatigue may overtake him, but God’s promise was sure. That is why David is able to conclude his request with adoration and worship.
“God is my helper; the LORD is the sustainer of my life. He will repay my adversaries for their evil. Because of your faithfulness, annihilate them. I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you. I will praise your name, LORD, because it is good. For he has rescued me from every trouble, and my eye has looked down on my enemies.” — Psalm 54:4–7
The need for help was great, but the promise of God was greater. One way or another, God planned to establish David as king. This knowledge could have led David to act in several different ways. He could have tried to find safety on his own. He could have fought Saul. He could have been captured, but David did the opposite of what he accused the Ziphites of in Psalm 54:3. He let God guide him.
The knowledge of future kingship did not prevent him from surrendering his present situation to God. He was not trying to manipulate God or force God’s hand. Neither was he passive in his request. David confidently asked in faith for God to bring deliverance and accomplish His will in the situation.
Saul was closing in on David, but at the last moment, a messenger came and rushed Saul away because the Philistines were raiding the land (1 Sam. 23:27–28). God in his total sovereignty separated David from his enemy.
Sovereignty and Action
Humanity in general is very good at asking God for the things we want and need, but James tells us: “You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:2–3)
God invites us to participate in his sovereign plan not so that we can try to have our will be done, but that in presenting our requests to him, we see the greatness of His will being done. God’s sovereignty and man’s proactive obedience go hand in hand.
“The teaching is—‘we have not because we ask not’—and yet God’s wise plan is sovereign and infallible. These two facts are true at once, and how that is possible is a mystery to us. We feel that if God is completely in control then our actions don’t matter—or vice versa. But think how practical this is. If we believed that God was in charge and our actions meant nothing, it would lead to discouraged passivity. If on the other hand we really believed that our actions changed God’s plan—it would lead to paralyzing fear. If both are true, however, we have the greatest incentive for diligent effort, and yet we can always sense God’s everlasting arms under us. In the end, we can’t frustrate God’s good plan for us.”
— Tim Keller, Prayer, pp. 224–225
Practical Steps
Dear friend, if you have been bringing your requests before God, do not stop doing so. Be diligent in laying it all down before the Father, but remember true supplication is laying down with full surrender. Below are four steps to help you better practice prayers of supplication.
- Know what God’s Word says. We cannot clearly communicate with God if we aren’t speaking the same language. God’s language is His Word.
- Recite God’s promises to yourself. We can do this through meditating on specific promises and truths God has given us. Reviewing these will help prompt remembrance as you pray.
- Declare God’s words back to him. One of the greatest gifts God gave us is to pray God’s words back to him. This helps our focus to be on seeking God’s will and shows God that we are anchoring our requests on Him not on ourselves.
- Give God praise before your request is answered. David thanked God for being his helper, sustainer, and vindicator before deliverance ever came. He fully trusted God’s faithfulness and goodness and was going to freely worship God no matter how God chose to answer his prayer for David ultimately knew whether the answer was yes, no, or wait, God would come through.
