God is Not a Vending Machine

By Vicki Courtney

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CBN.com – Have you ever stayed in a hotel? You know how they have soda machines and ice makers on almost every floor? Have you noticed the machines that have all the snacks? For only sixty-five cents you could have just about any snack you can think of. That’s all you have to do: put your money in and make your selection. D-5. Then those peanut butter crackers or M&Ms or Cheetos are yours! It’s that easy.

Sometimes we can treat praying kind of like a vending machine. We give God our prayers, and we expect him to give us what we asked for. Unfortunately, prayer doesn’t really work that way. Let me tell you a little about how I learned about prayer.

When I was little, I used to pray “wish-list prayers” to God. They were kind of like quarters I would put in the vending machine, hoping I would get what I punched in. “God, I’ll take an ‘A’ on my test tomorrow.” Each night I went over my list of wants with God. It went something like this:

Dear God,
Please, please, please help me remember my spelling words even though I didn’t really study. And please let Mark like me and not Missy. And please make my brother vanish into thin air. Amen.

As I went on to middle school, my prayers were still all about what I wanted: making the cheerleading squad, winning track meets, getting invited to the cool kids’ houses, and praying my parents wouldn’t find out I got in trouble for passing notes in class.

By high school it was clear that he didn’t always answer my prayers in the way I wanted. I had pretty much decided that he either (a) must not be listening or (b) must not care. Either way, I didn’t think that praying worked, so my prayers basically stopped except for when I was in real big trouble. Then I might say a prayer to God to see if it got any results.

When I finally became a Christian in college, I figured out that I had a lot to learn about prayer. Someone taught me the ACTS model of prayer. ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanks, and Supplication. People of any age can use this model. In fact, I still use this method today!

The ACTS Prayer Model

Adoration
The “A” of ACTS stands for adoration. Adoration simply means to brag on God. We should start prayer by praising God for how awesome he is. When you pray, start by remembering what you love about God and “adoring” him for those things. Examples would be praising him for his perfection, his enormous power, his ability to forgive us, his control of all the earth and the skies, his desire to love us
completely, his gift of Jesus, etc. The list goes on and on! You can praise God for anything. Praising God—adoration—helps us take the focus off ourselves and direct our attention to God.

Confession
The “C” of ACTS stands for confession. Confession is basically telling God about when we’ve done something wrong and feeling sorry for it. When I get to the confession part of my prayer time, I try to think of specific ways that I have been wrong that day rather than simply saying, “Forgive me for my sins.” An example would be: “Lord, I confess that I was wrong when I had a bad attitude when my mom asked me to unload the dishwasher.” If my confession involves a sin against another person (Mom, in this case), many times God uses my prayer time to direct me to talk with that person and ask their forgiveness. Confessing our sin every day helps us to remember that sin is serious to God. As you confess your sins to God, remember that no sin is too big for him to forgive. Our part is to admit our sin. His part is forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9).

Thanks
The “T” in ACTS stands for thanks. I bet you can think of the one holiday when it is easy to remember to thank God for his blessings. That’s right! Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving not only because of the annual turkey and pumpkin pie feast but also because, as a family, we offer thanks to God for what he has given us. We also thank him for the prayers he has answered (even if it wasn’t the answer we wanted). Did you know that we’re supposed to have Thanksgiving all year long? That’s right; every day should be Thanksgiving, with or without the turkey and dressing!

It is easy to forget to thank God on a regular basis. One way to remember is to use a prayer journal. Start by taking a notebook, journal, or even a piece of paper and make a list of things you are thankful for, like your church, your friends, your parents, or for your brothers or sisters (yes, even if they do drive you crazy!). If you can’t think of anything, you should always be thankful for God’s Son, Jesus, who died on the cross for you. With all that we have been blessed with, we should have no problem thinking of things to thank God for.

In addition to thanking God for the blessings he gives us, we should also thank him for answering our prayers. Begin by taking that same prayer journal, or notebook, and divide the pages into two columns. In one column, list your prayer requests, and in the other column, mark how or when the prayer was answered, even if the answer was “no!” (The Bible tells us to be thankful in all circumstances.)

Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NLT)

Supplication
The “S” in ACTS stands for supplication. Supplication means asking God for something for ourselves or for others. When you ask God for things, try to think of others first, and lift up your own needs last. This is the part of prayer where you talk to God about your grandmother who is sick, or your dad who needs a new job, or maybe your best friend whose parents are getting a divorce. After you say your prayers for others, then you can pray for yourself. Be honest with God. Are you sad? Tell him. Are you scared? Tell him. Talk to him as you would your very best friend, and remember that your prayers are heard. Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayer in the way we would like. Like the time I prayed and prayed to make seventh-grade cheerleader, but I didn’t make it. Now I understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways.

So, what about you? Do you treat God like a vending machine when it comes to prayer? If so, you’re missing out on what prayer is all about. Put your change away and try using the ACTS model. It is important that you talk with God on a daily basis. You don’t have to wait till bedtime to say your prayers. Get in the habit of talking to him throughout your day as things come up. He can’t wait to talk to you.

1. Have you ever treated prayer like a vending machine?
2. What are some things you adore about God?
3. Name something that you need to confess to God.
4. What are three things you are thankful for?
5. What are some requests you would like to make to God?

Congratulations! you just completed the ACTS model of prayer! See how easy it is? Try to get in the habit of using it each day.

Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Meet Him now.

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Excerpted from Between: A Girl's Guide to Life by Vicki Courtney, copyright © 2006. Published by Broadman & Holman Publishers. Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.

About the author: Vicki Courtney is the founder of Virtuous Reality Ministries, which reaches more than 150,000 girls and moms a year through events, an online magazine for teen girls (virtuousreality.com), and other resources. She is a national speaker and the best-selling author of TeenVirtue: Real Issues, Real Life ... A Teen Girl's Survival Guide. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Keith and three children, Ryan, Paige and Hayden. To learn more visit www.VirtuousReality.com or www.VickiCourtney.com.