Last Saturday hundreds of youth from around Utah gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church for the local celebration of World Youth Day. It was an amazing community experience where those present felt proud to be Catholics, comfortable discussing their faith and came away having a closer personal relationship with God. At a conference I recently attended, I learned that a significant number of Catholics don’t feel like they have a personal relationship with God and don’t know how to form one. Just like making new friendships, a close and personal relationship with God isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s something that time and effort must be dedicated into forming. It’s easy to get excited about your faith at a big event like World Youth Day, where there are many others around who are sharing in your excitement. The hard part is continuing to develop that faith once the event is over. The way that we, as Catholics, are able to strengthen our personal relationship with God is through prayer. God is always present among us, but through prayer we are able to open our hearts and have a conversation with God. There are many ways to have this conversation with God, but the first step is to set aside quiet time everyday to have this conversation. The Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (Youcat) lists and explains the main types of prayer: blessing, adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. Some of these you may be familiar with and some may be new to you; each type is explained below. To grow and enrich your relationship with God, understand the different types of prayer and try incorporating these different types of prayer into your daily life. A prayer of blessing asks for God’s blessing for us. A blessing is something good that comes from God. We should all ask for God’s blessing for ourselves and for other people. A prayer of adoration acknowledges the greatness, omnipotence, and holiness of God and the love that he has for us. Prayers of adoration are done while kneeling. The Youcat states, "someone who really adores God kneels down before him. This gives expression to the truth about the relationship between man and God: He is great and we are little. At the same time, man is never greater than when he freely and devoutly kneels down before God." Prayers of petition are when we turn to God in times of need and ask him to help us. The Youcat explains, "Certainly God does not need our petitions in order to help us. It is for our own sake that we are supposed to offer prayers of petition. Someone who does not ask and does not want to ask shuts himself up in himself. Only a person who asks opens himself and turns to the Author of all good." A prayer of intercession is said for someone other than yourself. It is a way to ask God to assist those around you, protect them, and guide them in the right direction. A prayer of thanksgiving is one in which you thank God for the blessings he has given you and those in your life. All things come from God, so it is right to thank him always. Lastly, a prayer of praise is a way to express the delight we feel when we recognize that we are living in the holy presence of God.
Stay Connected With Us