Are you hungry for more prayer? Looking for a new way to spice up your prayer this year? Why not try the T. A. C. O. S. S. prayer method – another way to help you pray! There is nothing fancy about it but there are a few ground rules: 1. You must eat the whole TACO! No more picking and choosing your favorite and tossing out the rest. Tisk, tisk. 2. Start at the very (T) top! See (S) Self? That’s wayyyy near the bottom. No don’t start there, start at the top with (T) Thanksgiving!! 3. If you’re not familiar with this type of TACO, you might want to set a timer (invite a friend to join you, why not?) for maybe 30 seconds per letter. Go ahead and bump it up as you develop your appetite for prayer! It’s soo good!!
My history of TACOSS
I’m excited to share with you this *new* method of praying that was shared with me by my mentee / disciple, turned new Youth Pastor’s wife (yayyyy!!!) and friend, Joy. I wrote about her here a couple of years ago. She shared with me her recipe for T.A.C.O.S.S. prayer that she learned from a church that she and her husband served in.
A shared desire for a more disciplined prayer-life came up in conversation as we were going over our answers and having lively discussion in our weekly discipleship meetings (now via Skype so we can keep the party going even while living on two different continents). We were using the Multiply material (available for download online for FREE) and as we talked about The Local Church we both shared the need for a deeper committment towards regular prayer. I shared about the A.C.T.S. method of prayer but she shared with me this new (to me) method called T.A.C.O.S.S.! I love it!
I told my family about it as they were eating that today I would go to our local Bible study and share about the TACOSS method of prayer (since we were having a nacho bar- whoops I thought all along it was going to be a TACO bar!! I’m just THAT excited about TACOSS! ;-). Did you read what I just said? I told my FAMILY about this new prayer method and took time to explain each letter! FAMILY meaning also including my unbelieving husband too! He was there eating as well with our children but I was so excited to share about TACOSS that I shared in his presence even though I knew he wasn’t going to be interested. However, when we got to the last (S) – Silence, HE was the one that suggested, “and the last S is silent.” BAHAHAHAHA! My husband is clever when he wants to be (haha). I even used that line tonight when I shared it with the ladies at our Bible study group called PWOC and a few ladies got the reference as well. 😉 (I’ll have to thank him later for that!)
So, I just want to share with you the Bible references that I used for each letter with the ladies to help ease yourself into praying if you’re a little uncomfortable about this TACOSS thing. You may want to set a timer for each letter, perhaps starting with 30 seconds per letter) until you’ve developed a taste for TACOSS and then increase your servings at your next meal. The idea is to begin by reading a related Bible verse and then continue with your own personal prayer (conversation with God) for the rest of the time remaining for that specific letter. Then move to the next letter. Maybe you could even journal your prayers or find and add / replace with other Bible verses that would apply for each letter. I asked the ladies to gather together with those near them at the table and pray and I heard groups of ladies rotate praying out loud, rotating with each letter, with one another. I personally find it encouraging to pray with others because their prayers help to broaden my prayers as I hear them pray for areas that I hadn’t thought to pray for and vice versa. #shareTACOSStoday
T – Thanksgiving
Did you wake up this morning? Do you have eyeballs to see this? Can you read? There are SO MANY things to thank God for! Give it a try!
Psalm 107:8-9 ESV
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
A – Applause
Don’t hold back, give a shout out to the Lord! Cheer! We are His number one fan!!!! Give it up for God!
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 ESV
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
C – Confession
Come clean before the Lord. He knows it all already anyway but He wants to hear it from you. Let it all out. Even ask the Lord to reveal areas of sin that you are unaware of so that you can be right before your God. Remember “sin” is “anything that you think, say, or do that breaks God’s laws or makes Him sad.” (-catchy Good News Club definition)
Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Psalms 32:5 ESV
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
O – Others
Think of all the people God placed around you, your family, your neighbors, people you pass by on the street, those at your workplace or school, those in the grocery store, those that you avoid… Pray for all of these and especially those who know the Lord that they would continue to grow and make disciples who will grow and share Jesus too.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
S – Self
This letter may be the easiest for you to do, to pray for your own self too. (Remember to start at the (T) Top!) But for some, praying for yourself may seem very awkward. How can I pray for me when there are so many other needs out there? Well, even Jesus, God the Son, prayed for Himself however He always submitted to the will of God the Father.
Matthew 26:39 ESV
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Ezekiel 11:19-20 ESV
And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
S – Silence
Why not end your time of prayer by having a time of silence before the Lord? Let Him speak to you too… it’s hard to get a Word in with someone if you never get the chance to respond. Give the Lord space in your life to communicate with you. Remember that God speaks in various ways but mostly through His Word. Ensure you are adding to your diet a regular, systematic reading of His Truth. Click here for an article I wrote in response to the sincere question posed from a friend when she asked, “How do I study God’s Word?“
Psalm 46:10 ESV
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Let me know which other verses you use for each letter. I’d love to hear from you how / if this T.A.C.O.S.S. prayer method has been filling for you! Thank you!
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Sejana Shines 
Hello Sejana,
My name is Steve and I would like to use the slides in this blog for teaching our youth group about prayer. Do I have your permission to do so? steve.stolarek-houston@easternhills.org