Prayer

Refer to our Sunday Experience pages to find different prayers to pray as a family sometime during the week as well as setting up a prayer space and other activities as a family.

For the Learn do the following:

1. Watch Video at the top of the page. (if you want more resources, or are interested in learning more about the topic click on the Extra tab).
2. Click on the appropriate grade for your child.
3. Read the "relates to..." section at the beginning.  This is helpful to understand what to convey to your child is important about this lesson.  It will        help make the lesson both an intellectual and a lived lesson.
4. Read through and familiarize yourself with the sample script. 
5. Teach your child the lesson, either using your own words or the sample script.
6. Either discuss the questions with your child (best option), or have your child write out answers to the questions.
7. Have your child do the activities and/or do the activities with them.  
8. If working with a parish return the appropriate material in the way they have requested.

All Content for "The Way", Learn, is original content and copyright of the Diocese of Kalamazoo and may not be copied, reproduced, or used without prior written consent of the Diocese of Kalamazoo.   © 2020 Diocese of Kalamazoo

Relates to Jesus: Jesus is our model for prayer. He is also our intercessor who helps us to pray to God the Father and receive the graces that He wishes to give.

Relates to my Faith: Our prayer should be constant and should include any thing going on in our life in love and trust.

Sample Script:
God made you and I out of pure love. He doesn’t want just to create us and leave us alone. He made us to be in a relationship with Him. This can be hard since we don’t see God or touch God. Our relationship with Him is different from the kind of relationships we can have with our friends and family. Even though having a real relationship with God seems hard, God is so good and so powerful that He has given us an amazing way to speak to Him all the time, wherever we are! This way of speaking with God is called prayer. In prayer, we respond to God’s great love for us. He is always reaching out to us and loving us, even when we don’t know it. It’s like God is always reaching out His hand to us and when we pray, we reach out to take it! Once we take God’s hand He is able to help pull us closer to Him and walk with us through our lives.

We can talk to God just like you talk to your best friend. He wants to know everything that’s going on in your life. He wants to know what’s exciting for you, what might be worrying you, or what makes you sad, and what makes you happy! Just like you would tell everything to your friend and it wouldn’t even be hard to talk about, God wants us to be able to share everything with Him easily.

There are different kinds of prayer just like there are different kinds of talking. In prayer we can “adore” God, which means we think about how good He is and all the amazing things He does for us and for the world!  We should also make sure we pray to ask for forgiveness whenever we do something wrong, just like when you do something wrong at home, you should ask you mom and dad for forgiveness. We can also thank God for how good He is and what He does for us! Of course, God also wants us to take time to ask God to help us with all of our needs. When you need something but aren’t able to do it yourself, you know that you should ask for help! God knows there are lots of things we can do, but also a lot of things we can’t do. God wants to be there to help us with both, so we can do the very best that we can.

When we pray, God is also able to speak to us! We don’t always hear words like when you talk to other people, but He is able to move our hearts and minds to understand what He wants to say to us. It’s very important to make sure that we take time to be quiet so that we can listen to God. When things are loud and crazy, it makes it hard to listen right? It’s the same way when we pray. If we’re doing a lot of talking or thinking and maybe there are even loud noises around us, it makes it hard to know what God might be trying to tell us!

There are also some prayers that we should memorize. Sometimes it’s good just to talk with God and to say whatever is on our minds. Sometimes though it’s hard to pray. We might not know what to say, we might be distracted, or maybe we’re still learning how to pray! Even the people who know how to pray really well use memorized prayers because they are so powerful and helpful. A great example of a memorized prayer is the Our Father that was given to us by Jesus to teach us how to pray. Saying prayers like the Our Father makes God very happy. We can say them over and over and learn something new every time! Memorized prayers help to teach us to learn more about God. Memorized prayers are also great when we pray as a group because then everybody knows the words. Even though we memorize them, we should make sure we’re not just saying the words without even thinking about them! We should make sure we mean them when we say them too! When we think about these prayers and we really mean them, they help our hearts to grow and make us better people.

God loves it when we pray to Him. He wants us to pray all the time, so that He can show us how much He loves us and we can be happy. We should try just talking to God and saying memorized prayers because if we do that a little bit every day, we can become very close friends with God.

Questions:

What’s one way God has given us to have a relationship with Him even though we can’t see Him or touch Him?
How is praying to God like taking His hand?
What are some different kinds of prayer?
Why is it important to have quiet time when we pray?
Should we talk to God like we talk to our best friend?
Why is it good to memorize prayers?

Activities:

Have your child draw a picture of him or her talking to God just like best friends talk! Work on praying one memorized prayer like the Our Father or Hail Mary together once a day throughout the week, whether it’s in the morning or at night before bed. You can help your child by having the prayer written out for them to read. Take turns doing the first and second parts of the prayer. At the end of the week, see if the child can do it all by himself!

Practice praying each kind of prayer with your child (adoration, asking forgiveness, thanksgiving, and petitioning for our needs) to show them what it might sound like. See if there are different times of the day throughout the week when you can pray together in one of these ways. For example: If something good happens, pray a prayer of thanksgiving with your child; if he or she does something wrong, once everything is sorted out, take a moment just to ask God for forgiveness too; if you find that one of you needs help with something big or small, take a second to ask God for help!

Relates to Jesus: Jesus shows prayer as communication with God, both us talking to Him and Him talking to us.

Relates to my Faith: Prayer helps us to come to know God and to know ourselves. Prayer helps us learn that God loves us, wants us to be holy, and calls us to live life to be fulfilled for His glory.

Sample Script:
God has an amazing plan for your life. His plan is something that only you can do using your gifts and talents. Even before He created you, He knew the amazing things He wanted you to do. When we take time to be quiet and still to listen to God in prayer, it gives Him the opportunity to shape us into the people we’re supposed to be. By asking for His help in prayer and listening to what He has to say, little by little He gets to work His plan for us in our lives.

It might be easy to say “but I don’t have time to pray” or “I don’t know when is a good time to pray.” The good news is, there is never a bad time to pray! Everything in your life can be a prayer whether it’s doing your schoolwork, playing a game, eating your food, or spending time with your friends. Sometimes we just feel called to pray at a time we didn’t even plan to pray. This is called “spontaneous prayer.” During this time, we just talk to God and open our hearts to Him, spending time with Him and sharing what we are going through. It doesn’t have to be long. It can be just a few seconds or can be a whole hour if you want. The most important part is that you try to pray often and focus on God.

We should never be afraid to pray, because whenever we pray, we are never alone. Even something as simple as saying a prayer can be hard and we need help. Our prayers are always meant to be inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit who lives in us through our Baptism helps us to pray. He helps us to know what we should ask God for, the words we should use, and when we should be quiet and still. He is like a special teacher for our prayer life that we always have with us, who always wants to teach us, and who we can always ask questions to!

Listening to how the Holy Spirit guides you in prayer will always help you to pray better! The Spirit helps us to pray in the different kinds of prayer: giving thanks to God for the good things in our life, asking God for help with the things we need, adoring the pure goodness of God, asking for God’s forgiveness whenever we do something wrong, and just sitting and listening to what God has to say. These different kinds of prayer help to different parts of our relationship with God! The Holy Spirit always knows what kind of prayer we need most and what is the right thing to do. We can always ask the Holy Spirit to help us to pray.

By giving God a little bit of time every day and inviting Him to spend time with us when we go to do the other parts of our day, God helps us to be better people and to figure out what His plan is for us. There is never a bad time to pray and if we need help, we always have the Holy Spirit there to guide us!

Questions:

Does God have a plan for your life? How do you figure it out?
When can you pray?
What is spontaneous prayer like?
How does the Holy Spirit help us to pray?
What is a prayer that Jesus gave us?

Activities:

Each day this week, try to ask God what His plan is just for the day. If He tells you something, do your best to do it! If He doesn’t give you a plan, just ask Him to help you live your day well and to be able to do something good today!

Try praying spontaneously at some time this week. Even if it’s just for a few seconds, invite God to spend time with you wherever you are! Whenever you pray this week, ask the Holy Spirit to help you!

Relates to Jesus: Jesus praises often the faithful prayer and requests made by people throughout the Gospels. Our prayer made faithfully through Jesus to God is a pleasing request to our loving Father.

Relates to my Faith: The Catholic Church encourages prayer, supporting many different forms and formulas as handed down throughout the Tradition.

Sample Script:
Sometimes it isn’t easy to pray. Both adults and kids might often find themselves saying, “I don’t have time to pray” or “I don’t know when is a good time to pray.” The good news is, there is never a bad time to pray! Everything in your life can be a prayer whether it’s doing your schoolwork, playing a game, eating your food, or spending time with your friends. Sometimes we just feel called to pray at a time we didn’t even plan to pray. This is called “spontaneous prayer.” During this time, we just talk to God and open our hearts to Him, spending time with Him and sharing what we are going through. It doesn’t have to be long. It can be just a few seconds or can be a whole hour if you want. The most important part is that you try to pray often and focus on God.

We should never be afraid to pray, because whenever we pray, we are never alone. Even something as simple as saying a prayer can be hard and we need help. Our prayers are always meant to be inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit who lives in us through our Baptism helps us to pray. He helps us to know what we should ask God for, the words we should use, and when we should be quiet and still. He is like a special teacher for our prayer life that we always have with us, who always wants to teach us, and who we can always ask questions to!

Listening to how the Holy Spirit guides you in prayer will always help you to pray better! The Spirit helps us to pray in the different kinds of prayer: giving thanks to God for the good things in our life, asking God for help with the things we need, adoring the pure goodness of God, asking for God’s forgiveness whenever we do something wrong, and just sitting and listening to what God has to say. These different kinds of prayer help to different parts of our relationship with God! The Holy Spirit always knows what kind of prayer we need most and what is the right thing to do. We can always ask the Holy Spirit to help us to pray.

If every part of our lives, we want to develop good “habits.” Habits are something we practice doing over and over until they become a part of who we are, almost like second nature! A good habit especially is something that helps us and those around us to be better. When we make prayer a good habit in our lives and practice it every day, our relationship with God is able to grow! Just like when you practice an instrument, a sport, or spend time with your friends, if you practice it every day, it gets better! There are many different ways to practice and exercise our prayer. We can spend time in silence, meditating and reflecting with God; we can read passages from the Bible; sing songs or listen to special music; we can also participate in praying morning and night prayer which are some of the official prayers of the Church! These different prayers help us to understand, speak, and listen to God in different ways, but they are all very good habits of prayer we can practice.

By giving God a little bit of time every day and inviting Him to spend time with us when we go to do the other parts of our day, God helps us to be better people and to figure out what His plan is for us. There is never a bad time to pray and if we need help, we always have the Holy Spirit there to guide us! Just spending a little time each day with God helps us to grow and create good habits. There are many awesome ways to pray and it’s worthwhile to try each one to see how they might help you!

Questions:

When can you pray?
What is spontaneous prayer like?
How does the Holy Spirit help us to pray?
What is a good habit? Why should prayer be a good habit?
What are some different ways we can practice prayer?

Activities:

Try praying spontaneously at some time this week. Even if it’s just for a few seconds, invite God to spend time with you wherever you are! Whenever you pray this week, ask the Holy Spirit to help you!

With your child, try a different kind of prayer they haven’t experienced yet just once this week such as lectio divina, morning prayer, or silent contemplation. Walk them through the different parts of the prayer and why they are important. Talk to them about their experience afterwards and what they thought. See if they’re willing to try it again soon!

Relates to Jesus: Jesus' loving presence with His people shows His deep desire to be united with us in prayer so that He can walk this life with us.

Relates to my Faith: Any kind of prayer, for any amount of time, done with intention to reach God, is most pleasing to Him and strengthens our faith and relationship with the Divine.

Sample Script:
There is no one right way to pray! It’s actually good to have a few different kinds of prayer that we practice. There are prayers that we pray by ourselves to foster our personal relationship with God and then there are prayers that we pray together as a group to build up our Church family by bringing us together and strengthening our unity. Sometimes we simply need time to be quiet and silent, spending time in the presence of God not saying anything or just listening to what God has to say. Sometimes we have a lot of stress or problems in our lives and we need to spend time asking for God to help us and those that we care about. In adoration, we get to just look at God in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and marvel at how wonderful He is! Sometimes people we care about trust us to pray for something they need. This is a great way to help one another which makes God very happy called intercessory prayer. We can also ask other people to intercede for us, even people who have passed away, such as the Saints of the Church! Sometimes life is crazy and chaotic, it doesn’t have any order or stability. During these times it’s easy to be distracted and lack focus. Repetition prayers like the rosary are especially good during these times, but they are also good at any time! The rosary is a prayer we can pray every day. It helps us to focus on what’s really important and come back to the simple truths instead of wandering after different things we think will make us feel good. 

There is never a bad time to pray! Everything in your life can be a prayer whether it’s doing your schoolwork, playing a game, eating your food, or spending time with your friends. St. Paul tells us in the Bible that we should “pray without ceasing” which means to pray all the time! This can sound like it’s impossible, but the Church tells us that it’s not! Every little part of our day can be offered to God as a prayer of thanksgiving, petition, or reparation. Even in doing the little and boring things of our day, we can be thinking prayerfully about how awesome God is. If there is something we really don’t like doing, we can make it a sacrifice for someone we care about. These kinds of prayers during the day make God very happy. God wants us to do good work, to do well in school, and be out spending time with the people we care about. He also very much wants to be a part of these great things with us. He wants to work with us and help us in all the good things we do. We should also try to make every part of our lives a prayer that we offer to God so He can help us on the road to Heaven.

Questions:

What are some different forms of prayer and how do they help us?
Is it possible to pray at all times? How?
What is an intercessory prayer?
What are the prayers of the rosary?
Other than God, who else can we pray to intercede for us?

 

Activities:

This week try one of the prayers in this lesson you haven’t experienced before or haven’t done in a long time. Take note of how it particularly helps you grow closer to God.

See if you can spend a whole day in prayer. If you find during the day that you forgot, that’s okay! Just start up again right where you left off. This will take a lot of practice and you might not be able to do it right away. Don’t worry! It’s just awesome that you tried and know that it’s possible.

Relates to Jesus: Jesus is found throughout the Scriptures relating to many different people. Praying to Jesus helps us to grow in relationship with Him who seeks to be in relationship with us.

Relates to my Faith: Praying with the Bible shows us concretely God's action throughout human history and reminds us that He is present to us today through the same Holy Words.

Sample Script:
Reading through the Bible is an awesome way to pray. The Catholic Church believes and teaches that the Bible is not just a book like any other, it’s actually the Word of God. These are not just dead words that only have meaning to people two thousand years ago, it is the Living Word that speaks to you and me today! When we open the Bible to read, we are actually encountering God who is trying to speak to us and tell us something important. Because of this living reality of the Bible, the best way for us to read this book is in the context of prayer, talking with God, and asking Him to help us to understand what He wants to say to us.

The Bible is not just one book. It’s actually an entire library of books collected into one! It is an awesome example of God and man working together to create something amazing. The Bible doesn’t have just one author, but two equally important authors: God and the human author! It’s important to understand that God wrote the Bible by guiding and inspiring the human author who also used his own talents and skills in the writing. Because of the two authors, we have a book that is 100% human and relatable to us, but it is also 100% God speaking to us without any error in the writing.

The Church offers us an awesome way to pray with the Bible called “Lectio Divina.” This method helps us to guide us in prayer in five simple steps. First, you prepare. This just means you make sure you take the time you need to pray with the Bible and do whatever you need to do to enter into prayer. Maybe it helps to light a candle, place a holy image in front of you, practice some deep breathing, or just be quiet for a few minutes. The second step is called “lectio” which just means reading the passage! It’s best to pick a small passage that you can read slowly and really think about and take in. Sometimes we will be surprised at the little things that strike us when we take time to think about them! The third step is called “meditatio” and it means reflect. This is the time after we’ve read the passage where we just think about the elements that stuck out to us. We might go back and re-read a few parts. Then we just gently prompt our minds in prayer to think about what God might be trying to say to us in those elements of the passage. The fourth step is called “oratio” which means respond. This can be as simple as writing down your thoughts in a journal. It’s also a good idea to respond to God in prayer and share what you are thinking and how you are feeling with what He has given you through praying with the Bible. The best thing to do is think about how you can apply when you have learned to your life by taking action. The fifth step is called “contemplatio” which means rest. You just take a little time at the end of your prayer to let everything you’ve learned sit. You can thank God for spending time with you and helping you to understand what you’ve read.

There are some passages of the Bible that are hard to understand, and that’s okay! We aren’t meant to understand everything by ourselves. We need to ask for help! Each book in the Bible has a different author, a different genre, and a different purpose as to why the book was written. Knowing these things can give us clues as to what God might be trying to tell us through the book. Some Bibles have helpful sections written in them that help to explain these things to us, but sometimes we need to ask someone who has studied the Bible to help us. It’s always important to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us when praying with the Bible. He is able to speak to us in amazing ways and help us to understand many things better than we could on our own. God also wants us to work together with the other people He has put into our lives, so it’s a great idea to ask for your parents, teachers, and priests for help to understand the answers to any questions you may have.

Praying with the Bible is a great way to help us know God better and figure out what His plan is for our lives. By taking time to ask the Holy Spirit to help us as well as the people God has put into our lives, the Word of God can enter our hearts and change us to be the people God made us to be!

Questions:

How does praying with the Bible help us to understand it?
How does the Bible help us to understand God?
What are the five steps to praying Lectio Divina?
Why do we need help understanding the Bible?
Who are the two authors of the Bible?
 

Activities:

Take some time to read a little bit of the Gospel of Mark once a day this week either when you first wake up or at nighttime before you go to bed. Make sure to pray asking for the Holy Spirit’s help while you read. Write down any question you have when reading and talk to your parents or priest to help find the answer!

Take time as a family to read and reflect on the Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday Mass before Sunday. Use Lectio Divina method, especially making sure to have silent time after reading to ask for God’s guidance and afterward then spend some time sharing what stuck out to each of you.

Relates to Jesus: Jesus' words and teaches present in Scripture are alive and speak to us today, and thus frequent reflection and meditation with the Bible should be common in our prayer life.

Relates to my Faith: The maintenance by the Magisterium of Scripture and Tradition assures us of the presence of Holy Spirit walking with faithful souls towards sainthood throughout the Church's history. Our prayers and works are important for our sanctity, and others, within the Church.

Sample Script:
Reading through the Bible is an awesome way to pray. The Catholic Church believes and teaches that the Bible is not just a book like any other, it’s actually the living Word of God. These are not just dead words that only have meaning to people two thousand years ago, it is the Living Word that speaks to you and me today! When we open the Bible to read, we are encountering God who is trying to speak to us and tell us something important. Because of this living reality of the Bible, the best way for us to read this book is in the context of prayer, talking with God, and asking Him to help us to understand what He wants to say to us.

The Bible contains true stories of how God guides the life of man. These stories and lessons still speak to us today, helping us to understand how God works in our lives. A good example is how we very often think our lives and careers need to start right away. We rush around trying to find our vocation and what God wants us to do. In the story of Abraham, however, we learn that sometimes God asks us to wait and be patient until the right time. Abraham and his wife Sarah were very old. It was long past the time when they could have children. It must have been easy to think that it wasn’t God’s plan for them to have kids. They even made a lot of mistakes and Sarah even lost trust in God sometimes throughout their long journey. God had made them a promise, however, and He remained faithful to them. Abraham always trusted in God’s promise. God told them that they would be the parents of a great nation and that their descendants would be more numerous than the stars!

After many years of waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled, they finally gave birth to their son, Isaac. God had answered their prayers and kept His promise. A few generations later, the number of Abraham’s descendants were already reaching hundreds and soon thousands. Eventually, God did make Israel a great nation just as He promised, but then He did something even more amazing. When Jesus came and gave us the Catholic Church, He allowed everyone to be a child of God and a member of His people! Because of this, every Christian who ever lived is also a spiritual descendent of Abraham, making them as impossible to count as the stars in the sky. It is a continual fulfillment of God’s promise all those thousands of years ago. This story reminds us that God is always faithful and His plans are even greater than what we can possibly imagine. Sometimes we just need to be patient and wait for God to act at the right time.

The Bible is filled with amazing stories of God working in people’s lives. When we read through them, they teach us how God may want to work in our lives as well. Through the words of the Bible, God speaks to us just as truly as those same words spoke to Abraham.

It’s important to set aside this personal time with God in prayer. By letting God into our personal lives, we allow Him to do amazing things like what He did with Abraham. In personal prayer, God is able to reveal His plan for us, give us strength in times of hardship, and comfort us when we are hurt. I’m sure you know how important it is to have a healthy body. Having a healthy body allows you to live a full life where you are able to be happier and better take care of the people around you. Because of this, it’s important to take care of your body by feeding it the right foods and exercising it every day.

It’s also important to make sure you have a healthy soul. We need to make sure we are feeding our soul the right things by reading good spiritual books, receiving the graces of the Sacraments, and doing good works. We also need to make sure we are exercising our souls by frequent prayer and works of mercy towards our neighbor. These things just take a little bit of time each day, but when we do tend to the garden of our souls, our interior life begins to blossom and flourish. When we feed and exercise our souls, we come alive! Our life takes on purpose that guides us in making our decisions and we find a constant wellspring of strength through the love of God in our hearts. Just like exercising our bodies lets us live a good life here on earth, exercising our souls lets us live an amazing life in Heaven for eternity.

Having a healthy spiritual life relies heavily on praying frequently. Praying often allows God to guide us to know what to do and give us the strength to do it. There are so many different ways to pray and there is never a bad time to pray. We can engage in spontaneous prayer which just accepts God’s constant invitation to be with us at every moment of the day and night. We can practice meditative prayer which focuses on an image or text which guides us to reflect on God and our relationship with Him. Contemplative prayer is speaking to God in the silence of our hearts and focusing on His presence and speech to us. Of course, there is always vocal prayer when we speak allowed to our Lord.

These different forms of prayer, including reading the Bible, form the foundation of our relationship with the God who made us. They help us to learn God’s plan for our lives, and build up our souls, so that we can do amazing things.

Questions:

Why is reading the Bible important? How does it help our spiritual lives?
Why is our spiritual life important through personal prayer important?
What are the different kinds of prayer we can practice?
What does Abraham's story tell us?
Does God always answer our prayers when we pray for something in our life?
 

Activities:

Take a little bit of time each day this week to read from the Bible. A good place to start is the Gospel of Mark. Talk to God about how what you’re reading each day relates to you and His plan for your life.

Make a “prayer plan” for your day and try to commit to it for the next month. It should be something simple like 10 minutes of silent contemplative prayer each day when I wake up, or 5 minutes of reading the Bible before going to sleep. You don’t want to try and do everything at once! Just try to make a plan to build up your spiritual health by making time to do the things that are good for your soul a little bit each day. Talk to a trusted adult like a parents, teacher, or priest about their prayer life and how they build up their spiritual health. How does it help them specifically?

Relates to Jesus: Jesus taught that prayer is central to the life of the disciples as this strengthens our faith and reliance on the Father to help us overcome all things.

Relates to my Faith: Our active presence in the Church, particularly in our regular participation with the Sacraments, builds us up spiritually and so enhances our prayer life to hear God's voice.

Sample Script:
We know that our faith in God is a gift. It’s something God gives us that we choose to accept and try to help others to accept as well. This gift of believing as well as trusting in God spurs and sustains our prayer life. We truly know God is real through both faith and reason. We also believe that He is a loving God who cares for us and hears our prayers. With this confidence, we are given the courage to reach out to God in prayer, to speak with Him, ask for His help, and listen to how He wants to guide us in our lives.

Prayer also strengthens our faith. The more we come to experience God’s goodness through His presence in our prayer lives, the less we are tempted to doubt Him or how much He loves us. The more we open ourselves to Him, the more He is able to give to us, and so the deeper we go in prayer, letting Him into more of our lives, the more He can fill us with faith, hope, and love.

Our faith is also confirmed and strengthened by the community of the Church. The witness of the Saints and people God has placed into our lives help to confirm God’s work in mankind. Perhaps someone speaks just the right words to you when you need them most or show up when you least expect them. Perhaps seeing someone sacrifices their own time and energy for a good cause inspires you because you know good people are out there trying to follow God’s will. Maybe just seeing other people attend Mass on Sunday reminds you that you are not alone in your journey to grow closer to God. Praying together as a community helps us to build each other up, to express our love for one another, and to increase the faith of the whole world.

Every single person is made with incredible purpose! Maybe they are not made to change the whole world, but every one is capable of changing the lives of the people around them by using the gifts that God made them with. Every person is called to holiness: that means they are “set apart” from the evil and base things of the world. They choose the right path even when it is God. They choose to stand with God instead of the things of the world that only bring passing pleasures. Choosing to be holy is never easy. All of the Saints who lived holy lives had to struggle and ask for help from God and from their neighbors.

This struggle against the temptations of the world is often called “spiritual warfare.” It’s the battle that takes place in our hearts and in the hearts of the people around us. It’s a battle against our own temptations and the forces that would try to lure us away from God and our heavenly home. This can seem like an overwhelming task that maybe we don’t always feel like we can accomplish. The good news is: everyone can be holy, and that means you too! God does not call us to anything that we cannot handle or that He can not help us to do, and He has called everyone to holiness, including you. That means you just need to accept His help, follow Him, and do what He asks you to do. When you do this and ask for His help, He will always help you.

God will never abandon you or let you down. That is what a life of prayer means. It means spending time with God, asking for His help, and trusting that He will hear and answer your prayers. It just starts with doing one good deed a day with God’s help. Little by little those good acts of love and mercy start to change our lives and the lives of the people around us, overcoming any evil in our hearts, and bringing us closer to the Kingdom of God.

Questions:

How does prayer come from faith?
How does prayer strengthen our faith?
How does communal prayer help our faith?
What is spiritual warfare?
What does a life of prayer look like? How does it lead us to holiness?

Activities:

Spend a little bit of time in prayer today and ask God for one good deed you can do to show love to someone around you, then go and do it! The next time someone inspires you with something they say or do, make sure to point it out to them and thank them. Say a prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord as well for working through that person.

Whenever you feel a temptation or a moment of spiritual warfare coming up against you this week, say a simple prayer like the “Hail Mary” the “St. Michael Prayer” or simply repeat “Jesus, I trust in you” until you feel the temptation subsides. Find something good to do in place of this temptation, even if it’s just returning to your schoolwork, hugging a family member, writing a nice note to a friend, or saying a prayer of thanks to God. If you happen to fail, don’t beat yourself up. Getting back up and trying again is what holiness is made of!

Relates to Jesus: Jesus, before His Ascension, spoke of the power of the promised Holy Spirit, who is present and active within the Church, within the baptized, and is with us to come to know, love, and serve the Trinity.

Relates to my Faith: Life is a journey to worship God and grow in deep relationship with Him. The faithful do well to open their hearts to hear the Master's call. It is in prayer, lifelong consistent prayer, that we stay close and endure in our relationship.

Sample Script:
Vocation can be a scary word for a lot of people growing up. Vocation simply means “calling” or what God has called us to in life. The Church recognizes three main vocational paths: the religious life, the married life, or the single life. When many people hear that God has a calling for their life and it is one of these three things, they get scared and want to know what their vocation is as soon as possible. The reality is that most of us aren’t ready to know our “big” vocation just yet. It takes a lot of time, maturity, and experience listening to God in prayer before He can reveal to us what we are meant to do. That is perfectly normal and okay! Jesus did not start His public ministry until He was 30 years old. Some people don’t find their vocation in life until they are much older.

It’s really good to be thinking about your vocation, but the most important thing is not to worry about it. You won’t regret waiting for your vocation, but you will regret spending time worrying. God will make sure you know when it is time, and it will be better than anything you can possibly imagine for yourself. He isn’t going to try and trick you into doing something you won’t be happy doing. God wants you to be happy more than even you want to be happy. He knows the desires of your heart better than you do. In the meantime, there are two very important things you can be doing.

The first thing you can be doing is spend time in prayer asking God to guide you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to hear His voice clearly and give you the strength to say yes to the things He asks you to do. God might not tell us right away what our vocation is, but when we start to pray and make God the center of our hearts, our lives start to make more sense. They start to form a certain pattern that tells us important things about ourselves. The more we learn about God and about ourselves, the easier it is for us to discern God’s plan for us. Simply asking for God’s help, then paying attention to how He responds in prayer and in your life, will guide you straight to where you are supposed to be.

The second thing you can be doing is focus on the vocation you are called to right now! Vocation doesn’t have to just be what you do later in life. God has a calling for each day of our lives. Each day is a new gift where God wants us to do good work. If you are a student right now, that is probably God’s vocation for you at this time. If you’re on break and spending time with friends and family, He wants you to enter into that time and strengthen your relationships! Doing your best to be fully present to your life right now will help make you even better prepared to live out your vocation when it comes.

Our vocation is a beautiful gift! We should never feel scared of what it may be! When you do receive your vocation, it probably won’t be from a spectacular vision or a lightning bolt from the heavens. Rather, it will probably be from a quiet moment in prayer, a gentle smile, or the way a cause tugs at your heart. Our prayer life and our actions are meant to work together to bring us peace and clarity, so live both your prayer and your life to the fullest and trust in God to guide you towards a beautiful life when it is time!

Questions:

Why are many people scared of the word vocation? Why shouldn’t we be scared?
How does prayer help us discern our vocation?
How does answering our daily vocation help us?
What prayer did Jesus give us?
Who does God call to a vocation?

Activities:

Spend some time reflecting on your feelings towards your vocation. Does it scare you? Are you excited? Just take some time to write a paragraph about these feelings. Talk to God about them and listen to what He wants to say to you in response. This week try and just focus on your daily vocation without worrying about what the next day holds. Do then best you can for that day and let tomorrow take care of itself.

Take some time to talk to a trusted adult about how they came to find their vocation! How long did it take them? How did God reveal it to them? Did they worry about it when they were your age?

Sacred Scripture References: Mt 6:5, 9-13, 7:7, 21:22, 26:39-41; Mk 1:35, 3:7; 3:13, 6:31-32,42,46,8:6,9:28-29;  11:24-25; 13:18-20; Lk 1:13; 1:46-56; 2:37-38; 3:21-22; 4:1-2, 5:16; 6:12; 38-39, 42; 11:1-4, 22:41; Jn 6:11, 14:13-14; 17:1-26; Acts 1:14, 8:14-17; Rom 8:26-27, 12:12; 1 Cor 14:14-18; Eph 5:18-20, 6:18-20; Philip 4:6; 1 Thess  1:2-5, 15:16; 2 Thess 1:11-12; Jas 5:13; 1 Jn 5:15-16; Nm 20:6; 2 Chron 6:13, 7:14; Prv 15:18;  and many more.

Catechism of the Catholic Church References: Section Four nos. 2558-2865

Christian Prayer

What is it?  Prayer is first and foremost a dialogue with God. When it is done right, it is characterized by an intimacy of sharing and relationship of a loved one or very close friend and confidant. It is as essential for the life of the soul as is air to the body, without which we are spiritually dead. Intimate relationship requires not only dialogue, but intimate sharing.

What it is not:  Prayer is not a one way conversation. It is not the mere asking for material goods or favors that seek self-serving and shallow purposes. God is not a vending machine. This is how most people view prayer.  

We can catecgorize prayer by five basic types:
Adoration (Latria)—Prayer in which we spend time with God mindful of his great love for us in which we respond in an attitude of love in return. Practically, this can be time spent before Our Lord metaphysical real presence in the Blessed Sacrament (either in his presence in a church’s tabernacle or at Exposition) or in his representative presence before an Icon, or other image or statue depicting Our Lord, or anywhere we can spend quiet time alone with him.
Praise—Prayer in which we offer words of admiration for or contemplate God’s love, goodness, and great things he has done.
Petition—Prayer in which we ask God for favors. In prayer of petition, we should consider whether what we ask for will help us grow in holiness and be of benefit to our relationship to God and others, and should not simply be for material goods or possessions that do us no long term good spiritually, unless it is something that is necessary.
Penance—Prayer or actions done in a spirit of prayer in which we offer reparation for our sins or the sins of others in union with Christ’s eternal, one-time sacrifice on the cross, which opens the way for us to salvation, but does not guarantee it. Penitential prayer joined to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is absolutely necessary to atone in divine justice for our sins and can also be applied to the souls atoning for their sins in Purgatory. Without penance done on earth in our own lives, we can expect to suffer in Purgatory for a long time.
Thanksgiving—Prayer in which we contemplate and thank God for the many blessings he has given us. The word, “eucharist” derived from the Greek, “eucharistein,” means thanksgiving. The Mass, as “Holy Eucharist” is primarily our thanksgiving for God’s gift of his Son’s sacrifice which saves us from eternal separation from God (eternal death) and in the reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion which joins us to God’s divine nature.

Prayer can also be divided into formal (or formulaic) and informal prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church divides prayer into two broad categories: Public (or liturgical) and Private (or non-liturgical).  Liturgical (public) prayer is usually formulaic (formal) prayer, which are already composed. Liturgical prayer is usually publicly scheduled and led by a priest or deacon. However, formulaic prayer can be prayed in individual, family, or non-liturgical (private) group settings as well. 

Formulaic (formal) prayer can be liturgical or non-liturgical.

Examples of Formulaic prayer
Liturgical: The Mass (the highest form of prayer), Liturgy of the Hours, Penance Service, the Rosary (when said publicly in church led by a priest or deacon). Stations of the Cross (when led publicly by a priest or deacon in the church. Good Friday Liturgy (which is not a Mass). Note: Good Friday is the only day of the year that the Church does not offer the Mass. It is a liturgical service and not a Mass because the Eucharistic prayer and words of consecration are not said.

Non-Liturgical:  The Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, the Rosary (when said privately), Stations of the Cross (when said privately), the Memorare, Act of Contrition (any standard version), Morning Offering (any standard version), The Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, Prayer before Communion, Prayer After Communion, Prayer before a Crucifix, Prayer to one’s Guardian Angel, Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel, Novenas, Prayer before Meals, Psalms or other prayers from the bible. Any standard prayer.
By custom, Catholics are brought up as children to memorize most of the above non-liturgical prayers.
 

Informal Prayer: Any non-formulaic prayer spoken spontaneously from the heart.

Both forms of prayer are desired and necessary to obtain grace and grow in intimacy with God.

Prayer of Contemplation—This is a prayer of focus on God himself, his love, work, actions, and attributes.

Prayer of Meditation—This is prayer in which we consider the many teachings of Our Lord in Scripture, of the Church, teachings or sayings of the Saints, or the meaning of Scriptural passages.    
While God does not “need” our prayer and knows all things before we ask him, he greatly desires our intimacy with him for our own sake as the means by which we will grow in grace and holiness and “be transformed by the renewal of our minds”. Prayer draws us ever more deeply into the mystery of the purpose for which God created us—to share in His divine life. The greater and more intimate our prayer, the grater our share in his divine life.

Standard Catholic Prayers 
The Our Father (memorize for daily use)
Our Father, Who art in heaven, 
Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.        
Give us this day our daily bread, 
and forgive us our trespasses, 
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary (memorize for daily use)
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women and
lessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us sinners now,
nd at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be (memorize for daily use)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen

Act of Contrition (memorize, use daily at the end of the day and for Confession)
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love.  I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Morning Offering (memorize for daily use each morning)
O my Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen

Prayer to one’s Guardian Angel* (recommended for daily use)
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day, be at my side,
To light and guard, Rule and guide. Amen.

* "From infancy to death, human life is surrounded by their (the angels) watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united to God."
                                - Catechism of the Catholic Church; no. 336

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel (recommended for daily use)
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. 
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, 
and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world 
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer before Meals (for daily use at all meals)
Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Prayer before a Crucifix
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, as I kneel humbly here before thee and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech thee to impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a most firm desire of amendment. With deep affection and grief of soul I ponder thy five most precious Wounds, having before mine eyes that which thy prophet, David, spoke of thee long ago, my Jesus, “They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones.” [Psalm 21, 17, 18]
 

Prayer before Mass
(Composed by St. Thomas Aquinas  d. 1274)
Almighty and ever-living God, as I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness,
wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.
May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence,
with the purity and faith, the repentance and love,
and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation. May I receive the sacrament
of the Lord's Body and Blood, and its reality and power.
Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His Mystical Body and numbered among His members. 
Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a  sacrament, may I one day see him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen.

Prayer after Holy Communion
(The “Anima Christi”)
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, purify me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds, hide me.
Suffer me not to be ever separated from you.
From the Malignant Enemy defend me.
At the hour of my death call me and bid me come to thee, that, together with your Angels and Saints, I may sing your praises forever. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving After Mass
(St. Thomas Aquinas)
Heavenly Father, Almighty and ever-living God, I thank You for having satisfied me, a sinner, your unworthy servant, with the most Precious Body and Blood of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Not because of any merits of mine, but out of the condescension of your mercy.   
I pray that this Holy Communion be not a condemnation and punishment for me, but a saving plea for forgiveness. May it be the armor of faith and a shield of good will.  May it be the emptying of my vices and the extinction of all lustful desires.  May it build within me lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, humility, obedience and docility, peacefulness, patience, purity, chastity, and growth in the power to do good. 
May it be a strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect quieting of all my evil impulses of flesh and spirit, binding me firmly to you, the One True God, and bring a perfect ending of my life. I pray too, that You will deign to bring me, a sinner, purified of my sin, to that ineffable banquet, where you are together with your Son and Holy Spirit, true light, fulfillment of desires, eternal joy, unalloyed gladness, and perfect bliss. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.