Prayer as relationship and grace

Question 303

Is there any other means of obtaining God's grace than the Sacraments?

There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it is prayer.

Question 304

What is prayer?

Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need whether for soul or body.

Question 305

Is prayer necessary to salvation?

Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved.

Question 306

At what particular times should we pray?

We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.

Question 307

How should we pray?

We should pray: 1st, With attention; 2d, With a sense of our own helplessness and dependence upon God; 3d, With a great desire for the graces we beg of God; 4th, With trust in God's goodness; 5th, With perseverance.

Question 308

Which are the prayers most recommended to us?

The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contrition.

Question 309

Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?

Prayers said with wilful distractions are of no avail.

God calls first

Questions 303, 304, 305

Prayer asks grace and responds to grace already given. Its necessity is relational, not mechanical: life with God cannot flourish while deliberately refusing God. Christ and the Spirit enable Christian prayer.

A rhythm of honest attention

Questions 306, 307

Morning, evening, meals, temptation, work, suffering, gratitude, and liturgy can become occasions of prayer. Reverence includes honesty and perseverance; feelings are not a measure of whether God hears.

Given words and distracted hearts

Questions 308, 309

The Lord's Prayer is the pattern of Christian prayer; Scripture, the Church's liturgy, and devotional prayer form desire. Involuntary distraction does not erase prayer. Gently return attention, notice what the distraction reveals, and avoid confusing difficulty with deliberate refusal.

Matthew 6:5–13

Jesus teaches prayer free from performance and gives the Lord's Prayer as its central pattern.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Romans 8:22–27

Paul describes the Spirit helping human weakness and interceding when words fail.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.