Prayer

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise You. We bless You. We adore you. We glorify You. We give You thanks for Your great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father: you Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You Who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You Who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy. You alone are the Lord. You alone, O Jesus Christ, are most high. Together with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

THIS IS A PRAYER OF…………………………………

Bless, us O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THIS IS A PRAYER OF…………………………………

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.

In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good

I have sinned against you

whom I should love above all things.

I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more,

and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.

In his name, my God, have mercy. Amen.

O My God, I am very sorry that I have sinned against you,

Because you are so good and with your help

I will try not to sin again.

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Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the privilege of coming boldly to Your throne of grace in the Name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord. According to Your Word I am making my requests known to You knowing that You already know what I need.

Father, I ask that You renew my strength so that I can wait patiently upon You. I ask that my ears and eyes are opened  that I might see,  hear, know and understand Your Word so that I can walk in obedience to Your commands, and share with others.  I ask You to make me alert, awake and attentive in Your thoughts and ways, so that I’m not easily deceived by the enemy. I ask that you help me to be disciplined and a good steward over all that You’ve entrusted to me for my consumption, to bless others and  Kingdom purpose. Above all, Father, I ask that my family (name them) would receive Your Son, Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord; that they completely surrender their lives to Him in full assurance of the atoning blood that He shed on the cross. Thank you, Father, for the privilege of prayer.  I pray with thanksgiving, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

THIS IS A PRAYER OF…………………………………

Your Task

Lesson Recap

Read the prayers provided and identify what type of prayer each of them are.

Be prepared to give reasons for your answers.

Then choose to write your own prayer of adoration, contrition, petition or thanksgiving.

What is prayer?

Why is prayer significant to Catholic spirituality?

What are the four types of prayer and what is their focus?

Prayers of Petition

Prayers of petition are when we need to ask God for something . This can involve asking God for something for ourselves, or for other people. For example, a person might ask for healing for a family member.

Prayers of Contrition

Prayers of contrition are aimed at asking for God’s forgiveness and mercy when we have sinned.

Prayers of Adoration

Prayers of adoration are aimed at worshipping and praising God and acknowledging his enormous power and influence in our lives.

Prayers of Thanksgiving

Purpose of Prayer

Prayers of Thanksgiving are aimed at thanking God for his many blessings.

For Catholics, the purpose of prayer is to engage with God and deepen our relationship with him.

Prayer therefore, involves some sort of conversation with God.

It also involves becoming aware of ourselves, for example, reflecting on our behaviours, as well as reflecting on the world around us, for example thinking about those in need.

4 Types of Prayer

In Catholicism, there are generally four types of prayer.

Prayers of Adoration

Prayers of Contrition

Prayers of Petition

Prayers of Thanksgiving

Each of these different types of prayer has a different focus.

Formal & Spontaneous

It can take many forms - sometimes it follows a formalised structure, for example, the Lord’s Prayer or the Hail Mary.

Other times, it is spontaneously created based on our thoughts and feelings in a given moment.

Characteristics of Prayer

Prayer can be done in a variety of ways, and therefore can look very different to different people.

What is prayer?

Prayer

Draw an image of what you believe ‘prayer’ looks like