Here is a prayer poem based on the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) which I have written and adapted for use in public prayers.

ADORATION

Creator God, we are here to praise Your glorious name,

For You call all the billions and billions of stars by name.

Redeemer God, we can only bow humbly at your feet,

For You alone all the powers of hell did defeat.

Heavenly Father, we kneel in worship and adoration.

Your power is vastly beyond our imagination.

Your wisdom and knowledge is so infinite and vast.

You see everything that is present, future and past.

You alone are worthy of all our worship and praise.

May we love and honour You all of the rest of our days.

Jesus, we cannot thank You enough for Your sacrifice.

For our sins, it was the only payment that would suffice.

We come as sinful creatures before the Holy One.

Yet we come in the precious name of the beloved Son.

We come boldly before the heavenly throne of grace.

We come as needy children seeking the Father’s face.

CONFESSION

Heavenly Father, we are so weak and twisted and frail.

If our inmost thoughts were exposed we’d be worthy of jail.

You have forgiven us so many times we’ve lost count.

If our sins were piled up it would be an impressive mount.

How many times can we come before your mercy throne?

How many of our sins will the blood of Jesus atone?

We have hurt so many, many people over the years.

We can’t count how many people we’ve driven to tears.

And now once more we come before your throne of grace.

And bow before you to confess our own disgrace.

Please ease the pain that we have inflicted on others.

Please grant them a measure of your grace to discover.

Yet we know that it is against you that we have sinned.

So it is your mercy and grace that we hope to win.

THANKSGIVING

Father, we know that our life comes from you.

Your love and grace sustains us all our days through.

Help us to remember that we are but dust.

Sunshine  and rain are also your gifts to us.

You’ve given us this wondrous world to enjoy.

You’ve granted us a measure of peace and joy.

We also want to thank you for our health.

Compared to many we also have great wealth.

Thank-you Jesus for dying at Calvary.

The salvation which for us is totally free,

You purchased at the cost of your precious blood.

Now all of our sins are covered by your blood.

How can we mere mortals thank you enough?

To count all that we owe you is really quite tough.

We can only honour you with our thanks and praise,

And pledge to serve you all the rest of our days.

SUPPLICATION

Heavenly Father, we have so many needs.

We need forgiveness for our many misdeeds.

We need your comfort for our times of great pain.

So we come before your throne of grace again.

Father, we come humbly before you at this hour.

We have loved ones who need your healing power.

We ask you to hold them in the palm of your hand.

And comfort them until they reach the Promised Land.

We pray that you would continually feed us.

We also pray for those all those who lead us.

May they daily seek your guidance and wisdom.

May they know where their power truly comes from.