Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I was talking with a friend recently about prayer. A formulation about prayer that I've enjoyed is ACTS: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Reflecting on my conversation and the Psalm, I've been convicted that my prayer life tends to look more like CTS with Adoration being my weakest component.
Now when we speak of Adoration, I'm not specifically speaking of prayer before the Eucharist. I'm speaking more of a prayer of praise. Today's Psalm gives us a good example of adoring God, "Praise the name of the LORD ... Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, which we love; ... For I know that the LORD is great; our LORD is greater than all gods. All that the LORD wills he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps."
This form of prayer can feel so foreign to me. Apologizing to God for my sin, thanking God for his provision, and turning to God in supplication is familiar. Just speaking the Lord's praise to remind myself and declare to others his goodness has felt awkward, but I recognize how good it is. It is good for me to remember who God truly is and what better way to make truth claims. Not aggressively or argumentatively, but in praise of God the same way I desire to praise my wife and children.
Today, incorporate adoration into your prayer. Just speak words of affection to God, not because He needs to hear them, but because you need to say them.
- Spencer Hargadon