31. What Is Prayer Of Petition?

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

Prayer of petition is asking God for what we need for soul and body, especially for grace, forgiveness, perseverance, and salvation. A beginner must learn to ask rightly because prayer is not magic, bargaining, or self-will spoken in religious words.

The catechism answer is simple: Prayer of petition is humble asking made to God, through Christ, for things that are good for us and ordered to His will.

The Christian asks as a child before the Father, not as a rebel giving commands.

The question is not first, "How do I get what I want?" It is, "What should I ask of God, and how should I ask?"

God is not changed by prayer. Prayer changes the soul and obtains the helps God wills to give through asking. Our Lord commands His faithful to ask, seek, and knock.

To refuse prayer is not strength. It is pride or forgetfulness.

The soul should ask first for spiritual goods: faith, hope, charity, contrition, purity, humility, perseverance, a good confession, a holy death, and the salvation of souls.

It may also ask for bodily needs: health, work, food, shelter, protection, peace in the home, and help in difficulty.

Bodily goods should be asked with submission to God's will. Spiritual goods should be asked with great confidence.

Christian prayer is offered through Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Mediator, the High Priest, and the Son in whom the Father is well pleased.

To pray in the name of Christ is not merely to add words at the end. It is to ask as one belonging to Him, trusting His merits, and seeking what can be brought under His kingship.

The soul should not ask Christ to serve sin. It should ask Christ to conquer sin.

Petition requires humility. The beggar knows he is poor. The sinner knows he needs mercy. The child knows he depends on the Father.

Proud prayer demands. Humble prayer asks.

The humble soul does not say, "God must do this because I have decided it." It says, "Lord, grant what is good, refuse what would harm me, and make me faithful."

Our Lord teaches perseverance in prayer. Some answers come quickly. Others are delayed. The delay may purify desire, increase trust, or teach the soul to seek God more than gifts.

The soul should not stop praying because it does not immediately see the answer. A child may ask repeatedly without ceasing to trust the father.

Persevering prayer forms perseverance in life.

Prayer of petition should include others: family, priests, rulers, enemies, sinners, the sick, the dying, the tempted, the poor, the faithful departed, and those who have harmed us.

Charity widens prayer. The soul that prays only for itself remains narrow.

To pray for enemies is especially Christian. It brings resentment under the Cross.

Sometimes God refuses what we ask because He sees more clearly than we do. A desired thing may harm the soul. A trial may be permitted for purification. A delay may protect us from pride.

Faith does not collapse when God says no. It says with Our Lord, "Not my will, but thine be done."

The Father is good even when He refuses the lesser thing to give the greater.

One mistake is asking only for comfort and never for holiness.

Another mistake is praying without any intention of obeying.

Another mistake is treating prayer as a last resort after self-reliance has failed.

Another mistake is despairing because God does not answer in the manner imagined.

The soul must learn to ask God daily.

The soul must learn to ask first for grace and salvation.

The soul must learn to pray through Christ with humility.

The soul must learn to persevere when answers are delayed.

The soul must learn to accept God's will when He refuses a request.

Prayer of petition is humble asking made to God, through Christ, for things that are good for us and ordered to His will.

A beginner should ask: Do I ask God for grace? Do I pray for others? Do I submit my desires to His will? Do I continue when prayer feels dry? Do I ask for holiness more than comfort?

The praying soul learns dependence. It becomes poor before God, and that poverty is full of hope.