In my personal prayer time, I try to implement the ACTS prayer system:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
But for some reason, I have always struggled with the Adoration part. There was a lady that taught at my former church that had a wispy voice and would get breathy and emotional talking about something she learned about God. I'm just not as touchy-feely as David was in Psalms, so it is very difficult for me to get warm-and-fuzzy about attributes of God.
Last weekend, my cousin stressed the importance of focusing on what scriptures reveal to us about God. This has changed my perspective on the Adoration of God. I realize that it is not necessarily an emotional event. More precisely, it is simply a study of the character of God that He has revealed to us through Scripture. This morning as I read Proverbs, I asked myself, "What does this tell us about God?" after each proverb. I was amazed at how much more easily I was able to Adore God this morning in my prayer time because I had focused on Who He Is. I have heard this referred to as "theology proper," and I have become quite engrossed with the study thereof. For instance, just this morning I concentrated on how God is patient, persistent, loyal, honest, true, righteous, kind, merciful, just, etc.
How easy it is to see God if I just redirect my lens from an introspective to a theocentric focus. He has revealed Himself to us through the Scriptures.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us through the Scriptures because you are so far above us that there is no way we could discover or observe you on our own. Lord, please help me stay focused on Who You Are, which will lead me to live appropriately. Thank you for helping me adore you. Amen.
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