There's a tidy little formula we can use on how we should approach God on bended knee. It goes by the acronym ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. In other words:
- Let God know how great God is
- Confess how bad you have been
- Thank God for God's steadfast love and forgiveness, then
- Hit him up for some goodies.
Not a bad approach, but it can too easily become rote and meaningless. As we mature we learn about prayer as contemplation – not talking to God as much as simply "opening the ear of your heart," as Benedict says in the first chapter of the Rule. We should be grateful for the times that we can be silent in our lives, listening for the movement of the spirit, clearing away the clutter of the day and very literally preparing a place for the seed of the Gospel to take root and grow.
ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Seeds of Shalom: Preparing a Place , by Daniel G. Deffenbaugh