The Three Kinds of Prayer

Prayer is an essential part of our Christian life and a significant aspect of our friendship with the Lord Jesus. Have you seen this sign printed on shirts and circulated on the Internet?

Image from christianshirts.net 

via google.com

Actually, even just a day without prayer will already weaken the Christian and be an easy target of the deceiver. Even those who consistently pray doesn't get an assurance of being temptation-free. As we have said in a previous entry, prayer is getting connected to our Source. Therefore, unless we consistently connect with God we shall never grow and succeed in Christian virtue and ministry.

Before we go deeper into the importance of prayer, let us first discuss the kinds of prayer. There are three: [1] Liturgical or the Official Prayers of the Church, [2] Community, Communal or Devotional Prayers, and [3] Personal or Individual Prayers. In her book Puddles of Knowing Sr Marlene Halpin, OP, says that these three kinds of prayers are like the legs of a tripod. Without, one the other two would not be able to support the instrument. These three must therefore always go hand in hand. They must be studied, nurtured and practiced together. 

Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, during the 13th Annual Lenten Symposium, presented by the Holy Trinity Apostolate in Detroit, Michigan, USA which took place on March 6, 2010, discussed the three kinds of prayer. According to the paper he presented, the three kinds of prayers are:

[1] Liturgical Prayers. The official prayers of the Church such as the Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Sacramentals or the Prayers and Blessings instituted by the Church for various occasions. They are prescribed and fixed by the Authority of the Church [cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nn. 7, 10, 13, 22]. 

With regards to this kind of Prayers, we shall discuss them more under Liturgy, our fourth pillar of the Holy Friendship. 

[2] Community Prayers. The unofficial prayers of the Church which may also be done by an individual such as the Stations of the Cross, the Holy Rosary, devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, particular prayers of religious order, congregations, organizations, faith communities, sodalities, and others. 

[3] Personal prayers. Those done by individuals. These may be inspired by liturgical and community prayers but the peculiar thing about this kind of prayer is its being personal, that is, like a person to person talk with God which may even be conducted through "inexpressible groanings" as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans [8:26]. 

Personal prayer is very important in building up our relationship with the Lord. For to God every person is important, not merely the Church as a whole. As the Lord Jesus said, the Father does not want even one to be lost [see Matthew 18:14]. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for the whole of humanity and for each one of us. 

These three kinds of prayers must always go together for our journey toward the Father's kingdom is also always conducted through three modes: with the entire Church, with smaller communities and personally. We journey with the Church for being a Christian is not merely an individual decision: it involves the community of all believers. As the song states, "no one lives or dies for one's self alone". We also journey with a smaller community, with our family, neighborhood, faith community households, religious organization cells, etc. But we must also have personal commitment for every one is called to follow the Lord.