7 - Prayer

• Prayer - Personal communication with God
• Types of Christian Prayer -

  • Adoration - showing deep love and respect for God. It is giving him praise
  • Confession - Admitting your sins and asking for forgiveness from God
  • Thanksgiving - Thanking God. It is showing gratitude
  • Supplication - Asking God for something. This can be asking for yourself (petition) or for others (intercession)
• Communal Prayer -

  • Jesus said 'Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them'
  • Jesus taught that he is spiritually present with those who pray
  • Communal prayers may take play at set times in a place of worship, or informally whenever Christians meet together
• The Lord's Prayer -

  • The Lord's Prayer is the most important Christian prayer
  • Jesus gave this prayer directly to his followers when they asked him how to pray
  • It is a set prayer which means the words are given to you
  • It is recited in many Christian services
• Private Prayer -

  • Jesus said when praying 'go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret... Do not heap up empty phrases
  • Don't pray to show off to others
  • Praying alone allows Christians to express their innermost feelings
  • God knows what you want, so don't waste words
• Variations in Prayer - Saints or No Saints -

  • Roman Catholics will sometimes ask Saints to pray on their behalf
  • Protestant Christians think you should pray to God directly
• Variations in Prayer - Priest or no Priest

  • Roman Catholics will go to a priest to confess their sins to God by entering the confessional and admitting their sins to a priest
  • Protestants think you should confess directly to God
• Variations in Prayer - Beads or no Beads

  • Roman Catholics will often use rosary beads when praying privately to help concentrate
  • Protestants think you should say your own words in private prayer
• Speaking in Tongues -

  • Pentecostals believe God's spirit takes them over when they pray
  • They pray to God in a heavenly language which is a gift that God gives them
  • They call it 'speaking in tongues'
  • They do not know what they are saying
• Importance of Prayer -

  • A way of communicating with God
  • A way of listening to God
  • It makes them feel closer to God
  • To thank God for life
  • To ask God for help