Prayer Lesson 1

Prayer

Lesson 1

Introduction to prayer

Prior to starting lesson one let us pray.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

To put this course on prayer together I have referred to and borrowed from numerous sources. The two major sources I have used are the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within by Thomas Dubay, S.M.. All bible references are taken from the RSV Catholic Edition.

What is prayer?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

“prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God
or the requesting of good things from God.”

When we first read this definition it seems quite simple. All we have to do is think about God with good feelings, or ask Him for the things we want. If we take a closer look we will find prayer is much much more. What does it means to raise our hearts and minds to God?   To answer this question we need to understand the meaning of heart.   The first definition we normally think of is the anatomical one. The heart as the muscle that pumps blood through our body. This is not the one that is referred to in the definition of prayer. The definition that is most applicable is “the vital center and source of one's being and sensibilities.”    An excellent definition given by Ladislaus Boros, S.J. in his book God Is With Us clarifies the meaning of heart as used in the Catechism.

Heart is an image common to all mankind for the central point of a personality, the basis on which flows everything that he is and does. The “heart,” therefore, signifies both the essence of the person as he actually is, and also the origin of his actions, his fundamental existential attitude. It signifies a persons disposition: the way he looks at other people, at life, and at all that exists.

If the heart is the very center of our being and if the mind is the center of our intellect than to raise our heart and mind to God is to come to Him in prayer with our whole person desiring to know Him better and to love Him more. In other words our goal is to become more and more in love with God. To do this we must put aside all other things and concentrate on God alone. We will talk about putting aside all other things more as we go through this study on prayer. As long as we are attached to the things of this world being completely in love with God is not possible.

Why Pray?

If we were to do a survey of our friends and neighbors asking them why they pray most would probably answer that they pray to ask God for help in getting through the problems of their daily life. Very few think of prayer as being in love with God and expressing that love in many different ways. Certainly asking God for assistance is a valid reason for prayer, but it is woefully incomplete. If we go back to the definition of prayer we see that loving God is the main reason for prayer. Even the second part of the definition leads us to the conclusion that prayer is mainly to increase our love of God. When we request good things from God we are asking for those thing that are good for us. Things good for us are things that lead us closer to God. With this in mind let us look at the many reasons for us to spend time in prayer.

We desire to see, love, adore, and be with God.

Deep within all of us is a desire to love God. To love God we need to know Him better, and prayer, especially meditation and contemplation bring us closer to Him. Saint Paul puts it this way “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18 )

Prayer is a precious privilege.

We feel privileged to talk with famous people, in fact we will go out of our way just to see or hear a famous person. How much more privileged should we feel when God asks us to come to Him in prayer. He does not need us, yet He loves us. He gave us His son that we might have eternal life with Him. This alone should be reason enough for us to want to spend time in prayer.

To fulfill our inner needs.

When someone does something for us we usually thank them. How much more does the God that provides for all our needs and constantly sustain us deserve our thanks. We also need to express sorrow for our sins and ask for grace to overcome them. To have someone to cry out to when we are suffering.

To increase our love for family, friends and neighbors.

The greater our prayer life, the greater our love of God the greater will be our love for others.   The closer we come to God the more we think of others and what we can do to help them, to show love for them.

Expressions of prayer

The Catechism gives us three expressions of prayer; vocal, meditation, and contemplation.

Vocal prayer is the way most of us pray. Sometimes our vocal prayer consists of praying prayers we have memorized or that we find in a prayer book. Other times our vocal prayer consists of words we speak directly to God just as we might talk to a friend. Either way we normally in vocal prayer talk to God directly in what one might call a one sided conversation. When Christ's disciples asked Him to show them how to pray He taught them a vocal prayer -the Lords Prayer. It is evident from this that vocal prayer is an essential form of prayer and should be a part of our prayer life. Lesson two covers vocal prayer.

Meditation is perfectly described by the first two verses of the Psalter. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:1-2). Meditation is a search to know God better. To learn what it means to be a Christian. How God wants us to live our life. Our meditation is most often aided by Scripture, spiritual books, or prayers. In lesson three we will look at various methods of meditation.

Contemplation according to St. Teresa “is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” It is our seeking God the one we love. It is a gift from God. It is a gift from God. We seek to be with God and God gives Himself to us when we are ready for it. Unlike meditation which involves reading, thinking, imagining, and conversing with the indwelling Trinity, contemplation is a real awareness of God, desiring and loving Him.   God begins to give this superior type of communing with Him when we live the Gospel generously. In lesson four we will explore contemplation.

Types of prayer

Now that we have an idea of what prayer is - an interpersonal union of slowly developing intimacy between us and the indwelling Trinity - we can explore many of the ways in which this relationship occurs. Many people think of prayer as asking for help in the numerous problems and needs we have. Sometimes we take time to thank God for what he has done for us. Few think of prayer as an expression of our love for God. In this section we will look at many of the diverse ways we can express our love for God. These are just a sample of the various expression of prayer found in scripture.   This section of the course is based on chapter 5 of Father Dubay's book Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within.

1. Petitionary prayer

But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him. (Ps 4:3).

As I indicated earlier petitionary prayer is the most familiar prayer of all. As the Psalmist says "the LORD hears those that are His when we call out to Him." Christ tells us "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him (Matt 7:7-11)!" We are told in numerous other places in scripture that God will answer our prayers we will only turn to Him and ask. Two things we need to keep in mind when we ask God for something:

       first, He answers our prayers in ways that are best for us, not always in the way we want;

       second, He answers the prayers of those He loves.

When we petition the LORD for something we need to ask ourselves is this something God would want for us or is this something we want for us?

2. Adoration, praise, and blessing

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.
Praise the LORD with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song, play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the LORD is upright; and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! (Ps 33: 1-8)

A large number of psalms and present day hymns show adoration, praise, and blessing to God.
What a privilege it is for us to be able to spend time adoring and praising our LORD who gives us all things. If we take some time to meditate on who God is we should come to the conclusion that adoration, praise and blessing should be a much greater part of our prayer life then petition for without Him we would not be.

3. Thanksgiving

The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. (Ps 28:7)

Thanksgiving is similar to praise and adoration, but with the added aspect of Thanksgiving for all the good and perfect gifts the LORD gives to each of us. Our day should be filled with thanks to our God.

4. Longing and yearning

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is. (Ps 63:1)

As we grow in our love of God we begin to hunger and thirst for Him as we would thirst for water in an arid land. At these times we need to quietly and patiently wait on the LORD. He will fill us in do time.

5. Prayerful suffering

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
Yet thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
To thee they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the people.
All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;
"He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
Yet thou art he who took me from the womb; thou didst keep me safe upon my mother's breasts.
Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help (Ps 22: 1-6).

All of us suffer from time to time, some more than others. This has been occurring from the time Adam and Eve were removed from the garden and continues today and will continue until the Lord returns. In numerous places in scripture we find people crying out to God in their suffering just as the psalmist above cried out. Jesus Himself called out to the Father in His suffering while in the garden just prior to His crucifixion. And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt 26: 39).

Our loving Father is always there to hear our cries for help in our sufferings.

6. Sorrowing for sin

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit (Ps 51: 1-12).

In David's psalm, written after he came to recognize his sin with Bathsheba, we find a wonderful description of sorrow for sin. This psalm also describes the steps we need to take after we have sinned to receive forgiveness.   David first confessed humbly that he had sinned. Then he renounced the sin, expressed his sorrow, and returned to God the Father. How great it is to know we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through this Sacrament we are able to confess our sins, make a firm purpose of amendment to avoid sin, and return to our Father.

7. Marveling and wondering at the divine works

O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols; but the LORD made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the LORD in holy array; tremble before him, all the earth!
Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yea, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy
before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth (Psalms 96).

With the psalmist we can marvel and wonder at the divine works of God. All we need to do is stop and look around and spend time thinking how wondrous the universe and all that is in it is. Meditating on the creations of God helps us to recognize the greatness of God. From nothing all that exists was made by Him.

8. Meditation

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Ps 1: 1-2).

The very first Psalm advises us to meditate on the word of the Lord day and night. We are told to know, love, and serve the Lord with our whole heart, mind and soul. One of the best ways we come to know the Lord is by meditating on His word. Meditation as prayer is so important we will spend an entire lesson on it.

9. Loving contemplative immersion

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple (Ps 27:4).

Father Dubay describes contemplation as a “divinely given growth in mental prayer when we are ready, not before. It is a superior way of communicating with God, a way that goes beyond images, concepts, and words. When it grows deep normally, it becomes deep, beautiful, intimate, love-filled. It is completely given by God, and so we call it infused contemplation.”

Contemplation is so important we will dedicate a complete lesson to it.

I would like to complete this lesson with a quote from Father Dubay “Identifying our will with the divine will is the very heart of sanctity and the more perfect the identification, the more lofty the holiness. Both the transforming union in contemplative prayer and the practice of heroic virtue involve complete identification with the divine will.”

Increase Your Understanding

Take some time and answer each of the following questions. Some of these questions are designed to insure you have learned the basics, others are designed to help you grow. My prayer is that each person taking this course grows closer to God. Take time to think about each of these questions.

If you would like feedback from me copy and paste the questions into your a new email page, answer the questions then send them to me at prayer1@musingsofacatholic.com.

1. What is prayer according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

2. What does it mean to raise your heart and mind to God?

3. What is the main reason for us to pray?

4. What are several reasons for us to spend time in prayer?

5. How much time do you spend every day in prayer? As you go through the remainder of this course make a list of ways to improve and increase your prayer life.

6. Briefly describe the differences between vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

7. List the different types of prayer.

8. Of the types of prayer listed which do you use?

9. How might you increase the types of prayer you use?

10. How has your concept of prayer changes by studying this lesson?