INTRODUCTION TO PRAYER

Being Prayerful is About Relationship

Every day and through the day, we need to make prayer part of our life. Prayer should not be
reserved for the most serious situations, or when something bad occurs, and should not be limited to
any religious purpose only. Prayer is about intimacy and slavery. God wants to
appeal to us. Praying should be like breathing for the Christian ... just as breathing is the
response.

Prayerful people walk with God every day. This walking can be done kneeling beside your
bed to thank God for a restful sleep or to ask the Lord to guide your day. This walking might take
place while driving to work or take the form of singing in the shower at the joy of being alive. Feeding
the birds might serve as a reminder of God’s loving providence.

4 Helpful Keys to Being Prayerful

Here are 4 things you can work on to improve your prayer life:
1. Make it a habit. The best way to make something a habit is to make it practically achievable and second to
attach it to an existing habit.
2. Make it exciting. Prayer should not become dry and difficult. Keep a prayer journal. Do a prayer walk. Pray
over your personal calendar. Pray over the news headlines.
3. Make it by the spirit. Prayer is not a work of the flesh.
4. Make it the Word. God has promised to answer our prayers when we pray His will.

The Lord’s Prayer

Word of God (Matthew 6: 9-15)

…This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored;
May your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth
As it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others
have done to us.
Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.’
“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive the wrongs you have done.”
 
 DISCERN

The “Lord’s Prayer” is our model of prayer. It gives us a summary of what Jesus wants us to know. Its
structure is also a way of how we can structure our prayers.
 
When we pray, our focus is not ourselves but on God. This is why Jesus taught us to call our God
“Father”. We focus ourselves to a God who is very personal to us that we can call him “Our Father.” He is a
God we share with everyone, not just “my Father” but ours.
 
Jesus teaches us that our God is also almighty God, that He is holy. We know that our prayers are
heard by a God who will give us what we really need at the right time and place. This is why after the
“address”, we tell God our petitions.
Our Father –
 We should have a relationship with God if we are going to pray. Then we should understand what that
relationship is.
 He is the authority.

In heaven –
 He is in heaven. We are on earth.
 He has a better vantage point. He has a better perspective.

Your kingdom come –

 We should pray for the will of God in our lives and in this world.
 The focus of prayer should not be on our own kingdom and our own interests, our health, our jobs, our life.

Your will be done –

Again, we are to focus on God’s will not our own. We are not to come to God and make demands.
When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray he taught them to praise God’s name and to pray for God’s
kingdom here on earth. Far too often when we pray we are consumed with our own troubles and problems.
This is why people so often only pray when they are in trouble. Our prayers are often, “blessed be my life, my
happiness come, my goals be met now as well as in the futurePsalms 37:4. God’s name will be
glorified and His will WILL be done so you will live a joyful and fruitful life and your prayers will be answered.
So we must have a passion for the glory of God.

On earth as it is in heaven –
We should consider the gap around us. What is the gap between how God’s kingdom should be (how
it is in heaven where there is no sin) and the world around us? What would this world look like if God’s
kingdom reigned here? That’s what you should pray for. What would your church look like if God’s kingdom
ruled there? That’s what you should pray for. What would your home look like if God reigned as king there?
That’s what you should pray for.

Give us today our daily bread –

We can and should pray for our needs. These prayers should be within the context of the other
principles we have discussed. And we should focus on our needs and not our wants. Look to God for
provision not the world around you. Be content with a simple life where your needs are met.
the Lord for help
 Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors –

Confession of sin is a key aspect of prayer. Are you regularly confessing your sin directly to God? And
are you forgiving others around you?
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one –
We turn to God for deliverance from sin and temptation. When we face temptation and struggles with
sin we should depend on the Lord for help. Don’t try to fight it in your own strength. He is the way of escape
mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Our first response whenever we face temptation should be to pray and ask
for help.
 

Read comprehensively the discussion about Lord’s prayer in the Catechism for Filipino Catholics.
(See appendix)

God relates to us personally. God shows His love in the person and things around us. His love
overflows. This is why we cannot help but give praise and thanks to Him through a personal way as well-
prayer.
Through prayer, we praise and give thanks to God. We also ask for forgiveness and say our petitions. We
trust that God will give us the best and so we are not ashamed to ask.
Prayer develops an awareness of our relationship with God (CFC1476). We become close to Him. When we
constantly pray, we do not just talk to God, but we also listen to Him. But God does not speak to us the way
people do. He speaks to us different ways. Sometimes God answers our prayers through people and events.
 

KINDS OF PRAYERS
1. Formal prayers
- are those that are already composed in a certain form. The traditional prayers like “The Lord’s Prayer and
“Hail Mary” are used as formal prayers. The Book of Psalms, which is one of the books in the Old Testament,
can also be a source of formal prayers.
 
2. Spontaneous prayers
- are prayers you make on your own. People pray to God and say what they like to say in a spontaneous
prayer. It is a very personal way of praying to God.
 
3. Public prayers
- are prayers we usually do with other people. In our Church, we do not just pray on our own. We pray with
other people and we pray for one another. What best way to pray than in the Mass or Eucharistic Celebration.
This is why the Mass is considered the highest form of prayer. It is a public prayer where we are gathered as
one family praying to God and giving thanks to Him.
 
4. Private prayers
- if we go public, we can also go private in our prayer. It is also important that we have a prayer time by
ourselves. This is the time when we can be alone with God and tell Him our concerns. We can let God know
how important He is in our lives, to give thanks for the many blessings He has given us and to ask for
forgiveness for the times when we fail to do good things.
BASIC PRAYERS
 
1. The Lord’s Prayer or Our Father
- it is our model of prayer.

2. Hail Mary
- prayer to honor the Virgin Mary

3. Glory be or Doxology
-prayer to honor the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit

4. Angelus
-prayer every 6am, 12nn and 6pm

5. Three O’clock Prayer

-prayer every 3pm to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ

6. Hail Holy Queen

-prayer to honor the Virgin Mary

7. Memorare
-also called the Remember prayer

8. Prayer to the Guardian Angel

-prayer for protection and guidance

9. Prayer to the Holy Spirit

- prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit

10. Act of Contrition

- prayer after confession

11. Prayer before and after Meals

- prayer to bless the food
 
BASIC TYPES OF PRAYER (PATTERN OF PRAYER)
1. Adoration (To adore, worship and praise God)
2. Contrition (To ask for forgiveness for the sins we have committed)
3. Thanksgiving (To ask thank God for the blessings he gives us each moment of our lives.)
4. Supplication (To ask God for our needs and the needs of others.)