Prayer

Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God...Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. Mark 11:22,24

God invites us into a relationship with Him that is both personal and communal. He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh. Prayer is our response to God who is already speaking or, better yet, revealing Himself to us. Therefore, prayer is not merely an exchange of words, but it engages the whole person in a relationship with God the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.

What are the three expressions of Christian prayer?

The Church speaks of three modes, or "expressions," of prayer. Our exemplar of prayer, Christ himself, taught vocal prayer to his disciples and also prac ticed meditative prayer and contemplative prayer. All three forms are of great value in the life of a Christian. (Cf. CCC 2701, 2721)

Vocal prayer is well suited to communal or liturgical prayer such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, or a blessing before a family meal. It is essential for us because of our human need to integrate the activi ties of both body and soul, and vocal prayer allows us to express through our physical senses what we feel and believe internally, in the depths of our hearts; this is how we pray "with our whole being." Liturgical prayer, which is primarily based on Sacred Scripture, also forms us as a Christian community in the Word of God. (Cf. CCC 2702-2704)

Meditative prayer is ordinarily grounded in spiritual reading. It is a search for understanding and discernment of what God is calling us to do. By engaging our mind and spirit, we draw closer to Christ. Two popular forms of meditation are the Holy Rosary and lectio divina. The Holy Rosary, which also utilizes vocal prayer, is a meditation on the events of the lives of Christ and his Mother. Lectio divina is a meditative reading of Sacred Scripture or other edifying texts such as the spiritual writings of holy men and women. (Cf. CCC 2705-2708)

In the silence of contemplative prayer, we experience intimacy with God as we share in his mystery and make ourselves attentive to his voice. We approach God with great humility and seek complete union with him; it is sometimes described as a "gaze of faith" fixed upon Christ. By gazing upon his mysteries, we open ourselves up to hearing the Word of God, illuminating our hearts, hearing the Father's voice, and infusing all that we do with his love. (Cf. CCC 2709-2719)

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2722-2724 addresses this question

Prayers

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Prayer Expresses a Unique Relationship with God

What are the five main forms of prayer?

In Christian tradition the five normative forms of prayer are blessing and adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. All of these are represented in the prayers of the Eucharistic celebration: the Mass, or Divine Liturgy. (Cf. CCC 2643)

Blessing is bidirectional between God and us: we pray, God blesses us, and we bless him in return for his blessings. In adoration we acknowledge the great ness and power of God and stand humble in his presence as his creatures. (Cf. CCC 2626-2628)

In petition we cry out to God with our needs, particularly our need for forgiveness of sins. We experience separation from God through sin and unhealthy attach ments, and we long for his presence and for the fulfillment of our needs in his kingdom. (Cf. CCC 2629-2633)

Prayers of intercession are petitions that beseech God on behalf of others—for example, the family, the Church, the community, the nation, the world, or any specific group of persons, even our enemies and persecutors. We are at once participants in Christ's role as our true Intercessor as well as acting as members of the Communion of Saints. (Cf. CCC 2634-2636)

Prayers of thanksgiving can be offered in all circumstances: joy and suffering, plenty and want. The very word eucharist means "thanksgiving," so our entire life of prayer centers on thanking God for his great gift of salvation and for his creation, the very gift of life. (Cf. CCC 2637-2638, 2648)

Praise is prayer that recognizes God for his own sake, for the very fact that he is God. We praise him for his divine attributes, his perfect glory, his perfec tion indeed in all good things—even apart from anything he has done for us. (Cf. CCC 2639-2643, 2649)

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2644 addresses this question