God has given us many gifts, some individually and others universally. All his gifts are true blessings, but there is one so powerful, and so much a part of us, that it can never be taken away from any of us. Prayer is that wonderful gift. Chiara Lubich of the Focolare Movement said, “We cannot do without prayer. We cannot live without breathing, and praying is the breathing of the soul, the expression of our love for God.”
Prayer is so versatile that it takes many forms. We can speak it out loud or hold it in our thoughts, read it or write it, sing it, or pray with acts of kindness or love. We can pray for others, for ourselves, or ask others to pray for us. We can teach others to pray, and we can form prayer groups to pray together. Prayers can change us, and they can change others.
No matter how we pray, the more time we spend in prayer, the more we know Jesus. Each prayer is a one-on-one connection of our hearts with the Heart of Jesus. Regardless of how we pray, any prayer said with love is extremely powerful. Even with the power and the versatility of prayers, we can put them in specific categories, and each kind carries its own power.
- Prayers of Praise and Love
These prayers should go before all others but are often neglected. As God’s children, he created us out of love to love him and his people. Our God is awesome, and he is pure love. He is faithful, abundantly generous, merciful, compassionate, and forgiving, and always ready to give us another chance, pouring graces on us to help along the way. He is our Savior, our Father, our King, our Best Friend, and our Rock. He is the Master of our hearts and the Keeper of our souls. He is everything we need and then some. We need to praise and love him with every beat of our hearts. Never let a day go by without telling our amazing God how much you love him.
- Prayers of Thanksgiving
In gratitude, remember to thank him for what we ask for, and what we did not ask for. Give thanks for things we take for granted such as each breath we take, and all the ways that he takes care of us. Thank him for the beauty of nature and the things that bring us peace. Do you ever notice a beautiful sunset or a field of flowers? How about the joy you get from your pets, or how the smile of a child makes you smile? Thank him for the wisdom he has taught you, and for your unique gifts. When bad or unfortunate things happen, give thanks, too, knowing that God will always take good out of everything that happens. More importantly, thank him for his gifts of love and mercy, and for your faith to believe in salvation.
- Prayers of Sorrow
God gives us graces to always choose him and what is good, but our human nature does not always choose good, and keeps us from loving as we should. Asking for God’s forgiveness is a gift of our faith knowing that his mercy is endless, and he gives us the graces to resist sin and all that hurts our souls. No matter how many times we fall, he is ready to welcome us back when we come to him in sorrow. When we pray, the evil one has no power over us. This short but powerful prayer, called the “Jesus Prayer” is a wonderful way to ask for God’s forgiveness: “Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
There are two more categories of prayers, and these are probably the most common for these are Prayers of Petition, asking for ourselves, and Prayers of Intercession, asking for others. Because there is so much involved in petition and intercessory prayers, and those we might see as “unanswered prayers,” these will be covered in another post on this blog.
Understanding prayer empowers us to accomplish much in our lives, and to impact those we love. It is a tremendous gift; one we should teach our children and those people who God places in our paths. Whatever your prayer, have faith that God hears every word, and will carry the graces of our prayers far and beyond where we can imagine. If we absolutely believed in the power of prayer, we would become his greatest prayer warriors!
Copyright © 2024 Marsha Luke – Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted: May be copied in its entirety, but neither retyped nor edited.