Prayer and its Forms
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about prayer
in three ways:
Gift: When God created human beings, he gave us the gift to
communicate. God desires to communicate with us.
Covenant: By definition, a covenant is a “serious promise” . .
concerning future action or behaviour. If we truly pray with
sincere intention, then our hearts are communicating with
God.
Communion: By accepting the gift of prayer and using it to
allow God to enter our lives, we enter into communion with
God.
In Be With Me, please read the story
“God Will Provide” on pages 64-67 and answer
the following questions:
O Does God answer our prayers in ways we don’t
expect? Does God see a bigger picture or
purpose to our lives by answering our prayers in
ways we don’t expect?
O God gave us the gift of freedom to communicate
with Him through prayer. Is there any way
human freedom could prevent someone’s
prayer from being answered the way they would
expect it to be answered?
The forms of prayer revealed in the
Bible are:
1. Blessing and Adoration
2. Penitence
3. Petition
4. Thanksgiving
5. Intercession
Blessing and Adoration
O In prayers of blessing and
adoration/worship, we praise the greatness
of God, and we acknowledge our
dependence on him in all things. The Mass
and the other liturgies of the Church are full
of prayers of this sort, such as the Gloria (or
Glory to God). Among private prayers, the Act
of Faith is a prayer of adoration.
Penitence
O We acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for
His forgiveness and mercy.
O We recognize that we have done something
wrong in our lives or day and are remorseful to
that and ask for cleanliness once again
O Examples: Penitential Rite at the beginning of
Mass, and the Angus Dei (or Lamb of God)
before Communion, are prayers of expiation, as
is the Act of Contrition. This is to make us clean
so we are worthy to accept the humble offering
that we make to the Lord.
Petition
O Prayers of petition are the type of prayer we are
most familiar with.
O We ask God for things we need—primarily
spiritual needs, but physical ones as well.
O Our prayers of petition should always include a
statement of our willingness to accept God's will,
whether He directly answers our prayer or not.
O The Our Father is a good example of a prayer of
petition, and the line "Thy will be done" shows
that, in the end, we acknowledge that God's
plans for us are more important than what we
desire.
Thanksgiving
O Perhaps the most neglected type of prayer is
prayer of thanksgiving. This is a prayer of
appreciation for the gifts God has given us
O We should get into the habit of thanking God
throughout the day for the good things that
happen to us and to others.
O Example: Grace before meals
Intercession
O Intercessory prayer is prayer for others. An
intercessor is one who takes the place of another or
pleads another's case.
O Intercession is defined as "holy, believing,
persevering prayer whereby someone pleads with
God on behalf of another or others who desperately
need God's intervention."
O Jesus Christ is our model for intercessory prayer. It is
Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. Therefore, He is also able to save
those who come to God through Him, since He always
lives to make intercession for them.
Journal #15 - Write a Prayer
Prayer of Blessing and Adoration (praising God)
O In the first paragraph, praise God because he is God! (This
could be two or three lines.)
Thanksgiving
O In the second paragraph, thank God for some of the people or
things that bring you joy or help you to be a better person.
Explain how these people/things make you a better person.
(IE. You could start with “Heavenly Father, we thank you for…”
Petition
O In the third paragraph, ask God for something that you NEED to
overcome your weakness. Ask for a virtue like courage, will
power or patience. Invite God into your spirit so that God may
work his miracles in your life.
AMEN