Dr. James Denison, the pastor of a church in Midland, Texas wrote this personal prayer:

Lord, forgive me-I've failed you again.
Some believers wouldn't consider it a failure, but I know better.
It's not prayerlessness, nor evil thoughts or vain imagination.
No, I've failed you in a much more subtle way.
I've become the ugliest of all things-a busy person.
It's okay for a while. The long hours, the constant pressure-administration, decision making, unrealistic expectations, relentless demands...
I loved what I was doing. I was committed, creative, energetic...
Like a quick-change artist I switched hats, changed roles, tried to be all things to all people.
There was not time for solitude or day dreaming.
Too many deadlines had to be met.
It was exciting and demanding.
I was out to change the world.
But there was not rhythm in my life.
No balance between work and rest, worship and play
Now I'm not just a busy man, I'm an angry man, too.
I'm tempted to resent the people I love and to dread the responsibilities I'm committed to.
Forgive me , Lord, for working too hard and playing too little.
Let me become a child again, at least for a time each day.
Help me, Lord, for I am a busy person.

I don't know about you, but there are times when I can identify with at least some of what this pastor wrote. I know that this is not a problem limited to clergy. As I observe this congregation I sense that many of you are too busy. We can become too busy with our jobs, our education, our responsibilities for our families, our recreation, our household chores, our organizational activities, and even possibly with our church activities.

Dr. Tim Sledge said, "You cannot outrun God, but you can become too busy to hear His voice. You can become so busy that you find it hard to sense His presence. If you are too busy, you need to slow down to catch up with God. You need to quiet your spirit. You need to still your heart."

My friend, to dream again, we need to overcome the barrier of busyness with balanced prayer. Today for my message to share with you and for our prayer and sharing time as a congregation I want us to use the ACTS model for prayer. This is not my original model, and it is not the only model, but one I have used in a variety of settings. I even used this model to lead a group of about fifty pastors of another denomination in a morning of prayer a few years ago.

What I have in mind for my message is for me to give some background to one word of the model, then practicing that aspect of prayer before moving on to the next word of the model until we have covered each of the four words.

I. A doration.

In adoration we focus on our God who has dreams for us rather than beginning by focusing on our problems. It is good for us to be reminded that God is bigger than our problems and difficulties.

What is meant by adore? Webster defines adore as "regard with utmost love, esteem, or respect, to worship as divine." We usually call Sunday morning services in our churches at R-S, worship services. Just calling a service worship, does not necessarily mean that worship takes place. Adoration, in private prayer or in a gathering of Christians, requires our involvement.

Have you ever thought about how you adore God? You might think about the many attributes or qualities of God or focus on a particular attribute of God you are especially aware of at that time. To help me do this I may use a Psalm of praise or another scripture which tells of the qualities of God. I may sing a great hymn of praise or a praise chorus. You may notice that I often plan our Sunday morning services to spend some time in adoration of God, frequently having us join together in hymns or praise choruses. We have already sung our theme song. (8:30) Let's adore our Lord with some more songs of praise. (10:30) Our choir is going to sing an anthem of praise and then we ask you to join in singing a couple of hymns of praise.

II. C onfession.

Confession may be a neglected area of public and personal prayer. We become aware of our sin and confess it to Jesus Christ as we are born into life with Christ. Jesus died to forgive us for our sins and when we confess our sin and ask for His forgiveness, He does indeed forgive us and cleanse us.

If you have made this vitally important step in your life, let me ask? Have you sinned since then? Have you confessed that sin to God? Notice I said, "That sin, not all your sins." We certainly should confess them all, but naming specific sins privately to God is a much more effective means of confession than lumping them together and saying, "Lord, Please forgive me for all these ways I have failed to please You." Be honest with God. He knows the truth about you and me anyway. Our conversation with God is so much better when are open and honest with our Lord. Think about honesty in other relationships, too. If I am trying to hide something I have done against you, what kind of relationship can we really have?

Some people, including some church attenders don't like to think about sin. Pastor Bill Hybels tells this story.

Many years ago I had an interesting conversation with a man-I'll call him Harry-who regularly attended my church. I had given a message on our sinfulness and our need for a Savior. Harry came to my office and said, "All this talk about sin is making me feel really bad. I for one don't consider myself a sinner."

Harry was a guy I could shoot straight with, so I said, "Well, maybe you're not. Let me ask you a few questions. You've been married twenty-five years. Have you been absolutely one hundred per cent faithful to your wife the whole time?"

He chuckled and said, "Well, you know I'm in sales. I travel a lot..." We both knew what he was admitting to.

"Okay," I said, 'when you fill out our expense account, do you ever add something that wasn't strictly business?"

"Everybody does that." he relied.

"And when you are out there selling your product, do you ever exaggerate-say it will do something it won't, or promise to ship it tomorrow when you know it won't go out until next Tuesday?"

"That's the industry standard." he said.

I looked straight at him and said, "You have just told me that you are an adulterer, a cheater, and a liar. Repeat those words after me-I am an adulterer, a cheater, and a liar."

He looked as if his eyes were going to pop out. "Don't use those awful words!" he said. "I only said that there was a little something on the side, a little this and a little that..."

"No," I said. "Just say it like it is. You're an adulterer, a cheater, and a liar. To me that means you're a sinner in desperate need of a Savior."

Your sin may be different from Harry's, but are you willing to call it what it is before God and ask for His forgiveness? That's what confession really is, saying the same thing about sin as God says. Don't try to rationalize it because others do. Let's take a few moments right now to privately confess our sin to God, after we confess together using 890.

III. T hanksgiving.

Repeatedly the scriptures call us to thanksgiving, not merely a holiday we observe once a year. In Paul's first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica he wrote (5:18), "in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Pray thanking God for who He is, for what He has done for us through Christ, for how we can find Him actively at work among us each day.

Some of us as parents know how wonderful it makes us feel to have a daughter or son freely thank us for something we have done for them! That really blesses me when Rachael or Jonathan says, "Dad, Thanks for taking me to the ball game or the playground!" Don't you think God, our heavenly Father is also deeply moved when we express our gratitude to Him?

Let's take a few moments to thank God now, maybe share some God hunts, but please don't share prayer concerns yet. Then we will share communion, thanking God for the wonderful gift of His Son to give us salvation.

IV. S upplication.

Supplications, that's the aspect of praying that most of us do better than the previous three. After we have adored Him, confessed our sin to Him, and thanked Him for the delightful things He has done for us, then it is time for supplication, for telling God what we need, for making our requests to the source of all our blessings. We'll do this now.

Conclusion.

Overcome the barrier of busyness with balanced prayer. Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication.

Pastor Tim Sledge wrote: "During the days of sailing merchant ships, one such vessel became stranded off the coast of South America. Weeks went by without the slightest movement of wind. The ship was helpless and could not move. The sailors were dying of thirst when they finally saw another ship approaching. They began to signal it. When the other ship was close enough to understand their cry for help they replied, "Let down your buckets right where you are." They crew of the stranded ship had assumed they were in salt water, but when they lowered their buckets they found fresh water. They were surrounded by a fresh water current from the Amazon River... They needed to reach out of the stillness into the fresh water below."

Friends, shall we let down our buckets, and pray, daring to dream?

I invite you to pray the Daring to Dream Again prayer with me.

Lord, Daring to dream again sounds so good, but sometimes memories of broken dreams haunt me. Help me let go of the pain that keeps me from responding to you gentle nudgings. Your presence encourages me to set Aside fear and to become a spiritual risk taker. I want your dreams for me to become my dreams as well. Amen.

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