Learning to Pray!

By Bill Huebsch

We know that as catechists and teachers we must be people of prayer. But sometimes in prayer, we feel distracted. Our mind is wandering from this to that, from one anxiety to another. Our temptation is to work like mad to end this, when what we really need to do is very simple: turn back the heart with acceptance and allow the meditation to resume.

Sometimes in prayer we experience dryness. Our heart feels empty and there is no light. We do not experience the warm glow and energy of love. Our temptation at these times is to quit, to give in to the dryness and seek some other source of refreshment. But all we really need to do is open our hearts, trust the intuitions which arise there, follow God’s initiative to love.

Sometimes in prayer the difficulty is lack of faith. We are filled with many other concerns. We turn to the Lord only as a last resort. What we most need at these times is to pray for faith itself.

We need to turn to Christ without petition, but only with gratitude, opening our heart and him to teach us how to pray.

Learning to pray as Jesus did
In the gospels, Jesus’ disciples knew him to be a man of prayer. Seeing how this touched and affected his life, they asked him to teach them to pray as well and in response, Jesus taught them the fundamental Christian prayer.

We consider the Lord’s Prayer to be a summary of the whole gospel. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew presents Jesus’ teaching on the reign of God, and central to that is this prayer. This prayer, that God’s kingdom may come, points to Jesus’ whole mission. The early followers of Jesus prayed this prayer three times daily, making it the backbone of their lives.

It is a community prayer. Jesus did not pray to “my Father” but to the God who is Father of all. In the rites of baptism and confirmation, praying the Lord’s Prayer signifies initiation into that community of God. In a sense, this is the quintessential prayer of the whole church. In the liturgy of the eucharist, it unites and prepares, occurring after the Eucharistic Prayer and before communion. In the Lord’s Prayer, we lay out all our needs before God.

We are sons and daughters of God, and we realize this is a privileged calling. Thus the Lord’s Prayer reveals us to ourselves; at the same time it reveals the Father to us. We are adopted by one who loves us eternally, and this creates within us two basic outlooks.

1. We desire to become like God, full of love ourselves, full of compassion and forgiveness.
2. We learn to trust like a child does, trust that God will give his children what they ask in Christ’s name.

God is “ours” according to this prayer, not as a possession, but as a shared treasure. So even though there are divisions among Christians, this prayer reunites us and is a summons to all. We never pray this prayer alone but always in one voice with the whole church.

When we pray to God in heaven, we do not mean to suggest a place but a way of being—not absent from us, but radically present to us. We must eradicate the erroneous ideas of heaven in order to see that the reign of God is among us! When we who are the members of the church pray “Our Father who art in heaven,” we are professing that we are the People of god, songs and daughters, seeking the reign of God.

Prayer as gift
We know that prayer is a gift—the work of the Spirit and grace—but it is also a response on our part, an intentional activity into which we enter. Sometimes, perhaps often for some of us, prayer is a battle, almost like a beam of light, fighting not to be overwhelmed by a room full of darkness. To be Christian is to pray, to be in communion with Christ.

So prayer is essential for us, and, difficult or not, we must undertake the work of prayer.


A Lesson Plan for Teaching Learners to Pray

Outcome
Learners will practice different prayer forms. Learners will experience five major expressions of prayer in the Christian tradition:

• Blessing and adoration
• Petition
• Intercession
• Thanksgiving
• Praise

Content
We are prompted to prayer by the Holy Spirit. See especially the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles which paints a picture of the prayer life of the early Christian community.

Blessing describes the basic encounter between God and humans. God blesses us, and we bless God. Adoration is our mental posture in prayer. It is the way we “stand” before God.

Petition is the form of prayer in which we beg for mercy, ask for healing, beg a favor, or ask for any other need. The first sentiment of petitionary prayer is to ask forgiveness. Asking forgiveness is a prerequisite attitude for both the eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer.

If petition is asking for our own needs, intercession is asking on behalf of others. Christians are even encouraged to pray for our enemies. In the Eucharist, our intercession is particularly for:

• The church
• The world
• Our community and families
• The poor, needy, injured, or outcast
• The sick and those who have died.

Thanksgiving is the central prayer of the church, shaped and formed by the Eucharist. (Eucharist means thanksgiving.)

Praise is the prayer of the heart. The movement of the Spirit deep within us causes us to break out in songs and exclamations of joy.

Goals

• Learners will more actively participate in class prayer and parish liturgy.
• Learners will be able to recognize and explain the difference between the different types of prayer.
• Learners will pray more often at home with their families.
• Learners will recite memorized prayers from their grade level to an adult.

Activities

• As a class project, create a booklet of the different kinds of prayer: blessing and adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise. Explain each type of prayer.
• Each person will write their own payer of blessing and adoration, petition, etc., and place them in the book under the appropriate heading.
• For younger children ask them to draw something for which they are thankful, then have a “thanksgiving parade” around your meeting space. You may wish to sing a “thanksgiving prayer” as you parade around. For example, to the tune of “Are You Sleeping,” the words could be Thank you God, Thank you God. For your gifts, for your gifts. You’ve given us so many, You’ve given us so many. Thank you God. Thank you God.
• Have children write down a list of their own petitions and decorate the paper. Have them hang it in a place where they will remember to pray these everyday with their family. Have family members add to the list. It could be changed weekly or monthly.
• Discuss the different types of prayers that we say during the Mass. Also, discuss ways in which the entire liturgy is a prayer of thanks.
• Sing or play some psalms or hymns of praise from the Sunday liturgy. Ask the learners to give examples of times and ways they have praised God.

This article is adapted from the Growing Faith Project (www.growingfaithproject.com).

Bill Huebsch

Bill Huebsch is the author of numerous books, including Whole Community Catechesis in Plain English and The General Directory for Catechesis in Plain English (Twenty-Third Publications).