Do you ever sit down to pray and just… blank? Not because you don’t want to pray, but because you’ve said the same three sentences so many times that they’ve stopped feeling like anything. “Thank you for today, please help with this, amen.” It’s not wrong, exactly. It’s just thin.
That’s the gap ACTS prayer fills, and it’s the free printable I’m sharing today.
What Is ACTS Prayer?
ACTS is an acronym that gives your prayer time a simple shape: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Each letter is a different posture to pray from, and the order isn’t random — it’s based on the pattern Jesus gave His disciples when they asked Him how to pray in Luke 11.
You start with Adoration, praising God for who He is, before you get anywhere near what you need from Him. Then Confession, being honest about where you’ve fallen short. Then Thanksgiving, naming specific things you’re grateful for. And only then, Supplication — bringing your actual requests, for yourself and for other people.
It sounds simple because it is. But there’s something about following that order that changes the whole feel of a prayer. You end up somewhere different than “please fix this,” and I think that’s the point.
What’s Inside
This printable includes:
- A short explainer on what ACTS prayer is and why the order matters
- A completely filled-in example, so you can see exactly what a finished prayer looks like
- 10 blank templates, ready to use whenever you sit down to pray
Each template has a labeled box for all four steps, with a one-line prompt under each letter so you’re never staring at a blank page wondering what goes where.
How to Use It
Sit down with one template and just work through it top to bottom. You don’t need to write paragraphs — a sentence or two under each heading is plenty. Some days Confession will only get a line. Other days it might be the longest section on the page. That’s fine; this isn’t about filling every box evenly, it’s about actually praying through all four postures instead of skipping straight to what you want.
If you’re not sure how to start Adoration, try finishing the sentence “God, You are…” with something true about His character — faithful, patient, near, in control. For Confession, it helps to be specific rather than general; “I’ve been short with my kids this week” does more than “forgive my sins.” For Thanksgiving, aim for detail — not just “my family,” but the specific moment this week that reminded you why you’re grateful for them. And for Supplication, don’t just pray for yourself; leave room for the people on your mind, too.
There’s no set schedule here. Use a template every morning if that’s your rhythm, once a week if that fits better, or just whenever you notice your prayers have gone a bit flat and you want to reset.
Why I Wanted to Make This
I think a lot of us go through seasons where prayer feels like a habit we’re going through rather than a conversation we’re actually having. Structure sounds like it would make that worse — more of a checklist, less of a relationship — but I’ve found the opposite can be true. Having somewhere to put my praise, my honesty, my gratitude, and my requests, one at a time, actually slows me down enough to mean what I’m saying in each part, instead of rushing through to get to the asking.
It’s also just genuinely useful on the hard days, when you sit down to pray and don’t know what to say at all. Having four simple starting points is enough to get you moving instead of staring at nothing.
A Couple of Practical Notes
The ten templates are meant to be reused as many times as you need — this isn’t a journal you fill in once and finish. Print a handful and keep them somewhere you’ll actually see them: tucked into your Bible, clipped to a prayer binder, or sitting on your nightstand.
If a particular section always feels hardest for you, that’s worth paying attention to. For a lot of people it’s Confession, because honesty is uncomfortable, or Adoration, because praising God for who He is (rather than what He’s done for you lately) doesn’t come as naturally as it sounds. Wherever you get stuck, that’s probably exactly the part worth sitting with a little longer.
Grab Your Free Copy
ACTS Prayer is completely free to download and print at home. It holds up fine on regular printer paper, and cardstock is a nice option if you want your templates to last in a binder long-term.
