By Hank Hanegraaff

The word F-A-C-T-S serves as a memorable outline providing a wonderful structure to my daily prayer time. In place of merely snorkeling in the surface waters of prayer, F-A-C-T-S provides me a means by which I can dive deep beneath the tumult and turbulence of the ocean surface to a place that is silent and serene, a place where my harried requests may give way to the quietness of union with the Lover of my soul.

FAITH. Think of faith as a channel of living trust—an assurance—that stretches from a human being to God. It is the object of faith, however, that renders faith faithful. Faith is more than mere knowledge and agreement; it involves living trust. Jesus summed up the prayer of faith with these words: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7).

ADORATION. Faith in God naturally leads to adoration. The beauty of adoration is that it unshackles us from preoccupation with self and places our focus directly on the Sovereign of our souls. Through adoration we express our genuine heartfelt love and longing for God. Adoration inevitably leads to praise and worship as we focus our thoughts on God’s surpassing greatness. We can pray the psalms in particular as passionate prayers of adoration.

CONFESSION. It is quite natural for your prayers to transition from adoration of God to confession of guilt. Indeed, one inevitably leads toward the other. When we touch the transcendence of God, we are inevitably reminded of our own unworthiness. We can develop intimacy with the Lord through prayer only when we confess our need for forgiveness and contritely seek His pardon. The apostle John summed it up beautifully when he wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 nkjv).

THANKSGIVING. Scripture exhorts us to “enter [God’s] gates with thanksgiving” (Psalm 100:4). Failure to do so makes prayer the stuff of pagan babblings and carnal Christianity. Pagans, said Paul, knew about God, but “they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (Romans 1:21). Each new day we ought to approach God “overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:7) as we devote ourselves “to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (4:2). Such thankfulness is an action that flows from the sure knowledge that our heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and will supply it.

SUPPLICATION. It is proper and right that our supplications tend toward the end rather than the beginning of our prayers, for it is in the context of a relationship with God that our requests make any sense at all. As John wrote, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14–15 nkjv).

While our Father knows what we need before we even ask, our supplications in and of themselves are an acknowledgment of our dependence on Him. And that alone is reason enough to

“pray without ceasing.”

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,

in everything give thanks; for this is the

will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NKJV

 

FAITH

ADORATION

CONFESSION

THANKSGIVING

SUPPLICATION

For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, Truth Matters, Life Matters More: The Unexpected Beauty of an Authentic Christian Life (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2019).

***Note the preceding text is adapted from The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition: Revised and Expanded (2024). To receive for your partnering gift please click here. ***