The Witness to Prayer in Scripture
1. Key Old Testament Prayers
a. Moses’ intercession for his people (Exodus 32:11-13)
b. Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
c. Solomon’s prayer for wisdom (1 Kings 3:6-9)
d. Solomon’s prayer to dedicate the temple (1 Kings 8:23-61)
e. Jehoshaphat’s prayer for deliverance (2 Chronicles 20:5-17)
f. Daniel’s prayer (Daniel 9:4-19)
g. Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 1:3-11)
2. Key New Testament Prayers
a. The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13 and par.)
b. Jesus’ Gethsemane Prayer (Matt. 26:36-46 and par.)
c. Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” (John 17)
d. Paul for the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:14-21)
e. Paul for the Philippians (Philippians 1:9-11)
f. Paul for the Colossians (Colossians 1:9-17)
Prayer as Gift, Covenant, and Communion (¶2559-65)
1. Prayer as gift
a. Prayer is a response to God’s initiating movement toward us throughout salvation history, from creation to the coming Kingdom (¶2567)
b. Prayer is grounded in love: the love of God for us, our love of God in response; we can persevere in prayer only because of love (¶2742)
2. Prayer as covenant
a. Prayer is a covenant relationship between God and the human person, which is a relationship of faith, hope, and love
b. Our covenant relationship with God is grounded in our union with Christ through the Holy Spirit, who conforms us to the image of the Son and brings our will into conformity with the Father’s will
3. Prayer as communion
a. Prayer is a life of union and communion with the triune God, rooted in our Baptism and nourished by the Eucharist.
The Life of Prayer
1. Three kinds of prayer
a. Vocal
b. Meditative
c. Contemplative
2. Three facts about prayer (¶2743-45):
a. We can pray at any time, because we live in the time of Christ’s resurrection; the “Today” of the Lord (¶2606, 2659, 2677, 2686, 2705, 2730)
b. Prayer is a vital necessity for the Christian
c. Prayer is inseparable from the Christian life of discipleship
