2. Prayer and its Forms

3. 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.

4. In Be With Me, please read the story “God Will Provide” on pages and answer the following questions:
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?
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?

5. The forms of prayer revealed in the Bible are:
1. Blessing and Adoration
2. Penitence
3. Petition
4. Thanksgiving
5. Intercession

6. Blessing and Adoration
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.

7. Penitence
We acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for His forgiveness and mercy.
We recognize that we have done something wrong in our lives or day and are remorseful to that and ask for cleanliness once again
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.

8. Petition
Prayers of petition are the type of prayer we are most familiar with.
We ask God for things we need—primarily spiritual needs, but physical ones as well.
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.
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.

9. Thanksgiving
Perhaps the most neglected type of prayer is prayer of thanksgiving. This is a prayer of appreciation for the gifts God has given us
We should get into the habit of thanking God throughout the day for the good things that happen to us and to others.
Example: Grace before meals

10. Intercession
Intercessory prayer is prayer for others. An intercessor is one who takes the place of another or pleads another's case.
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."
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.

11. Journal #15 - Write a Prayer
Prayer of Blessing and Adoration (praising God)
In the first paragraph, praise God because he is God! (This could be two or three lines.)
Thanksgiving
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
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