Christ the King Catholic Church

Nashville, Tennessee

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Music City's Belmont/Hillsboro/12thSouth neighborhood.

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The Lord's Prayer

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The teachings of the Catholic Church on prayer might be summarized in the following points:
- The first and primary prayer is that of Jesus, who gathers all human human and prayer into his offering of himself on the Cross, an act of love for God and for us. All prayer is a way of sharing in the communication between the Son and the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Petitionary prayers are prayer for our personal needs and wants; intercessory prayers extend to the needs and wants of others. There are also prayers of thankgiving, in which we express our gratitude to God for all that we have received, and prayers of adoration, in which we praise God for being God.
- Prayer has three primary expressions: vocal, meditation, and contemplation.
- By prayer we do not hope to change God's mind, who loves us and wills our good from all eternity, but to participate actively and obediently in the life God has given us.
Recommended Reading
- Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2759-2865 (Link)
- Need a basic guide for getting started in prayer? Read David Torkington's "A Practical Guide for Daily Prayer" (Link).
- If you like Torkington's article, you'll definitely like his mini-course on prayer (Link).
- Listen to an illuminating series of talks on prayer from Fr. (now Bishop) Greg Homeming, an expert on Carmelite spirituality (Link).
- Read Thomas Merton's "Pray for Your Own Discovery" for a contemplative view of prayer. (PDF)
- Want to go deeper? 17th century priest and spiritual director Jean Pierre de Caussade offers a vision of prayer as simple obedience to the will of God from moment to moment in Abandonment to Divine Providence. Here's chapter 2. Not an easy read, but immensely powerful. (PDF)
Weekly Meditation: Spend Time in Silence.

Prayer is commonly described as the activity of raising the heart and the mind to God. In other words, we take our thoughts and our feelings, and instead of following them where they naturally lead us, we try to focus them on God, thinking about God and feeling toward God.
- Take a minute and let yourself grow quiet. Don't attempt to pray. Don't do anything in particular. Simply pay attention to the stream of thoughts and feelings as they arise and pass away. How long does it take before you forget what you're doing and get swept away by some interesting thought or attractive feeling?
In prayer, we try to think about God and feel toward God. The problem is that God, the Creator of not only the physical universe but of the very contents of our minds and hearts, is not present to us in the same way as anything else. Whatever we think or feel, God exceeds the content of our minds, cannot be captured in our imaginations.
- Take another minute and think about God. Consider, perhaps, how powerful God is. When God says that something should be, it simply is. When God says that something should not be, it simply isn't. Absolutely nothing contrains God. How does this realization make you feel? Take note of these thoughts and feelings.
In prayer, we think about God, and we feel toward God, and we use words to express what we're thinking and feeling, our needs, our desires, our hopes. So far, however, this is a one way conversation. As long as we're busy with the content of our own hearts and minds, we are unable to open ourselves up to God's invisible, inscrutable influence.
- Take a final minute to recognize that God is really, truly present, closer to you than you are to yourself. Having recognized this, simply open yourself up to whatever God wants to do with the time you're providing. Let silence be a bond of closeness between you and God. How long can you stay silent in God's presence?