Models of Prayer

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines prayer as: the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God (CCC2559).

The primary purpose of prayer is to respond to God’s initiation of dialogue with us. It is always an act of faith and hope.

Purposes for prayer

The purpose of the prayer can determine its form, mode of delivery and the need for accompanying ritual elements, or rubrics.

The Christian tradition has given particular emphasis in its prayer life to prayers of:

The book of Psalms provides some examples of these purposes for prayer.

The purpose of prayers of praise and thanksgiving is to give more explicit and deliberate form to our sense of the greatness and wonder of God and of our own place within the total scheme of reality.

The purpose of prayers of contrition or seeking forgiveness is for us to acknowledge our failure to respect this fundamental relationship with God and deliberately open ourselves anew to God’s abiding presence within us to make us better than we are.

Prayers of petition or intercession assist us to come to terms with our needs and those of other people. They assist us to make ourselves ever more sensitive to our obligations to do whatever is possible to fulfil those needs, whether for ourselves or for others.

Some example models of prayer

Praying with a mandala

You; Who; Do; Through