Prayer Information

I presented my first RCIA class a few weeks ago on the topic of Prayer. In the Catholic Church, prayer is a very important topic.

God has given a universal call to pray. He's called us from Genesis – Abraham, Moses, through Psalms in the Old Testament on into the the Gospels & other letters from the New Testament. We experience Jesus praying in solitude, for all, for thanksgiving, and before he is crucified in the NT. Jesus also taught us to the “Our Father” prayer that we pray at Mass on Sunday. Jesus prays in us, for us, and is prayed to by us.
There are many examples of prayer in both the Old and New Testaments – just check the index of your Bible.

There are just as many reasons to pray as there are ways to pray. Each of have your own reasons – whether it is asking for help or giving God thanks for something. We'll explore the different types of prayers a bit later.
 
What is Prayer? Here are a few ideas I wrote down:

• Prayer is God's gift to a humble & contrite heart. (National Directory for Catechesis, pg 112)
• Prayer is raising your mind & heart to God.
• Prayer is communicating with God.
• Prayer is allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart which leads you into fuller communion with God.
• Prayer should be a big part of your life.

There are several types of prayers including:

• Petition – the most common type. This prayer asks God for assistance in life's needs; it seeks God's intervention.
• Thanksgiving – gratitude – thanks God for the many blessings & gifts, both the asked for and the unexpected.
• Adoration – expresses our absolute devotion & love of our God.
• Contrition – forgiveness – recognizes one's faults & sins, expresses sorrow, & asks for forgiveness.

Methods of Prayer

• Recitation – such as the Rosary, litanies, the “Our Father” & other memorized prayers.
• Spiritual reading – including passages from the Bible, particularly Psalms.
• Recollection – taking a few moments throughout the day for a quick recall of God's presence in oneself & others.
• Contemplation – including quiet time spent in inner reflection.
• Journaling – writing down favorite passages & recording your interpretations & reflections of them (or reflections from prayer time using any of the formats above)

 One way of prayer is not necessarily better than another – there is no one right way to pray. Prayer is personal and intimate.

 

Jesus Prayer

"Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

This prayer has been around for a very long time. Father Joe introduced our RCIA group to it and I wanted to give it to each of you as well.

It is short – easy to memorize – and contains all the right things for a good prayer: a statement of faith; acknowledgment of our own sinfulness, and a petition for mercy.
This can be done in free or formal prayer. Free prayer is mentally repeating this prayer as you are going about your routine tasks – or when you have a spare minute or two – standing in line, waiting for the doctor, etc.

Formal prayer is simply when you sit quietly and devote your entire being – mind & body – to praying

I hope this information is useful to you. Comments and questions are always welcome. Blessings!