The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that prayer is the raising of one's heart and mind to God (CCC 2259). It is a two way interaction. Prayer incorporates both talking with and listening to God, our Heavenly Father. We do this by praising Him, saying sorry for things we have not done right (confessing our sin), thanking Him for the good things we have encountered, and asking Him for our daily needs and desires. Prayer is communion with our Creator.
When we pray, we are engaging in loving union with God, the Maker of heaven and earth. Prayer lies at the very heart of the life of the Church and is the foundation of Christian discipleship. Why pray? We are desiring to have a relationship with God, it is a relationship with goes beyond just knowing that God exists to feeling (encountering) the love on Gods on a personal level. It moved beyond the spoken word. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that prayer can be expressed in three different ways: the spoken word (vocal prayer), meditation (to quietly reflect on what we have read or what we have encounter and see how God is present in that very moment and placing ourselves in that moment with him), and thirdly contemplative prayer (‘to be in the presence of God without words, without distraction) Vocal Prayer Jesus prayed in words, we see this when he prayed at the tomb of Lazarus, and in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We pray together at Mass; our children pray together at School, we pray together at home. Eg: Sign of the cross - inviting God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit to be with us in that very moment. In the morning - thanking God for watching over us during the bight and to be with us in the day ahead. Saying Grace before meals. Night time prayer - a time to reflect back on our day and a time to ask Gods protection on us as we sleep.
Examples - (prayers that can be said on our own or with others): sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be, Angel of God. Prayers as a community - Holy Mass, The Creed, Meditative Prayer To ponder on God, to reflect on what we have read, eg: if we have read some verses of scripture we give ourselves the time to reflect/ to think about God and what he is saying to us in that very moment. Lectio Divina - unites reading scripture with prayer. Contemplative Prayer This time of prayer puts to one side our books, our bible, our spoken word. It is a time of silence (of contemplation). We come into Gods presence and allow our very being, body, soul and spirit to rest with him, just as the beloved disciple rested in his presence (John 13:23). We become more aware of Gods presence with us. Prayer takes time and work on our part. It is easy to say we do not have time to pray, we are busy with family, work or taking care of our home. The Catechism reminds us that for any relationship to develop, it takes time and effort on our part (CCC2725-2728).