Catholic prayer encompasses God as its inspiration, whilst guiding the purpose provides the faith and one’s experiences of God to foster a close connection. Through our communication with God, this gives an individual the opportunity to communicate with God and change lives, developing a sense of spirituality, strengthens faith and makes us aware of human life, giving us personal growth. Prayer enables us as individuals to start to become one with the one we seek to be one with in God in Haag (2011). Prayer embraces both triumph and tragedy, and turns the heart towards God (Miller, 2019). It is through prayer that we can demonstrate love, gratitude, seek guidance and support on a pathway in life whilst we can overcome challenges in life and if need be ask for forgiveness. Through the Catholic condition you can pray at anywhere and at any time. Prayer brings positive feelings into an individual’s life that anything can be achieved through a sense of spirituality aligning them self with the higher power through feelings of compassion, empathy, gratitude along with physical well-being.
Prayer can be considered the ultimate way in communicating with God (Loyola Press, 2020, para 5). The implications of when we pray (Miller, 2019) we learn from Jesus how to pray we learn trust Thagard (2018) the sets of behaviour that depend on one another, trusting one another through confidence all of these behaviours are led by Jesus and enhanced with prayer.
Forms of Prayer in the Catholic Tradition
God seeks contact with us in many ways, in human encounters, through experience of nature, in positive and negative challenge, through sickness, health and suffering (Miller, 2019). God is always there to provide a hidden message; this is presented in the 5 types of prayer (Miller, 2019) described below:
Blessing and Adoration
A prayer of blessing and adoration is showing faith where the prayer honours God. We give a thanks blessing and adoration of God for giving us life, for all the blessings we enjoy because of God. We praise God for his creations, being positive for example, when we say grace before a meal; Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Petition
To petition is to ask for help (Ryan 2014, p. 74). When we pray our petitions, we’re asking God for something that we believe is good. By using this form of prayer, we are mindful of the needs of others. We know God will always hear our prayers. God may answer our prayers in a different way than we think, but ultimately God will always hear our prayers. Prayers of petition serve to remind us that God expects us to care for one another. We can pray for almost anything, for example, people who are sick, help in our schoolwork, family safety, peace in the world. We can also express our sorrow and contrition to God in our prayer.
Prayer of Intercession
An intersession prayer is a blessing upon which Christians intercede, or intervene on behalf of the needs of others, the Church, and our world (Ryan, 2014). We know that Our Lady and the saints intercede for us before God, while the church encourages us to pray to them and for their intercession. Prayers of Intercession can bring strength, courage and peace of the heart and soul (Ryan, 2014).
Thanksgiving Prayer
Thanksgiving prayers aid in ones being grateful for God’s blessings, through a spiritual lens, recognising and appreciating all that God has to give to us and make us grateful for, thanking the higher power of God for his gift of life. The gifts of families, friends, putting food on the table, clothing on our bodies, shelter over our heads and teaches us not to take for granted the gifts God gives us every single day (Ryan, 2014).
Prayer of Praise
Praise is a form of prayer, explained by Ryan (2014, p. 74), that occur when praise is offered to God, praising God and being thankful to God. The praise of God should be limitless without any boundaries. Praise can be demonstrated by showing faith through an individual’s life as a person’s life experiences change (Rayn, 2014).
Ways to Pray
Three ways to pray are provided below:
Vocal Prayer
A prayer in the spoken form a conversation with God, vocal prayer gives voice to what’s in our heart and soul. It can be personal or in a communion, as part of vocal prayer at mass we say we lift up our heats to the Lord, as individuals we know we are truly praying, lifting our hearts to God (Miller, 2019).
Meditative Prayer
Meditative prayer starts with sacred text and images exploring the presence of God, and truly reflecting. This allows focus to be 100% on God (Loyola Press, 2020). Meditative prayer involves thought imagination, emotion, and desire (McColman, 2015). During meditation it is important to remember we are entering into Gods sacred time and know that he is with us and is the higher power always looking over us.
Contemplative Prayer
Being in the presence of God quietly through love, silence and listening is contemplative prayer. It’s about making time to relax and being in God’s presence and realising how much time God has for us and how much he loves us (Loyola, 2020). Being in the presence of God means the Individuals spirituality has been defined by the language and practice of a particular religion in this case the catholic religion (Ryan, 2014).
Often people ask questions such as How do I pray? What is the proper way to pray? Is there a certain method I should use to pray properly? and Should I pray in the morning or the evening? These and other questions will surely pop up in your Year 7 Classroom.
Watch the video below for a general overview.
For specific guidance and tips to help answer the questions in your Year 7 classroom, click here
A video that brings together the forms of prayer and how to pray is available here:
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