Blessing, petition, and intercession are different types of prayer. Regarding the prayer of blessing, the Catechism states: “Two fundamental forms express this movement: our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father—we bless him for having blessed us; it implores the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father—he blesses us.” (CCC 2627)
Pope Francis has said, “To God who blesses, we too respond by blessing — God has taught us how to bless and we must bless — through the prayer of praise, of adoration, of thanksgiving.”
The prayer that Jesus taught us—the “Our Father”—is a prayer of petition. As creatures, we must rely on our Creator for our needs. The Catechism states: “By prayer of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures who are not our own beginning, not the masters of adversity, not our own last end. We are sinners who as Christians know that we have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turning back to him.” (CCC 2629)
Father John Hardon said, “The prayer of asking is of two kinds, either back to the past or forward to the future. Looking to the past, we plead for God’s mercy for our sins. Looking to the future we beg for the many things in this life that we cannot give ourselves or obtain from other people but depend on God to provide. In both forms of petition, we declare that we are totally helpless to do anything on the road to heaven without the grace of God, which only he can supply.”
According to the Catechism, “The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer.” (CCC 2631)
Then, it writes: “Christian petition is centred on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming.” (CCC 2632)
Regarding the “Our Father,” St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Our prayer ought also to be ordered as our desires should be ordered, for prayer is but the expression of desire. Now, it is the correct order that we prefer spiritual to bodily things, and heavenly things to those merely earthly. This is according to what is written: ‘Seek ye first therefore the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Here Our Lord shows that heavenly things must be sought first, and then things material.”
Regarding the prayer of petition, Pope Francis said, “At times it seems that everything is collapsing, that the life lived so far has been in vain. And in these situations, seemingly dead ends, there is only one way out: the cry, the prayer ‘Lord, help me!’ Prayer can open up a sliver of light in the densest darkness. ‘Lord, help me!’ This opens up the road, it opens up the path.”
The Holy Father has also said that people who pray “never turn their backs on the world. If prayer does not gather the joys and sorrows, the hopes and the anxieties of humanity, it becomes a “decorative” activity, a superficial, theatrical, solitary way of behaving.... In the solitude of those who pray, whether the solitude lasts a long time or only a half hour, to pray, those who pray separate themselves from everything and from everyone to find everything and everyone in God. These people pray for the whole world, bearing its sorrows and sins on their shoulders.”
We pray for the world at Holy Mass: “May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world.” (Eucharistic Prayer III)
Our Lady of Fatima asked the three shepherd children to pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and to bear all sufferings for the conversion of sinners.
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祈禱表達了我們的渴求
祝福、求恩和代禱是不同形式的祈禱。關於祝福的祈禱，天主教教理指出：「頌謝的行動有兩個基本表達方式：有時它在聖神內經由基督而上達天父（我們讚頌天主因為祂降福了我們)；有時它懇求聖神賜恩，聖神通過基督，由（降福我們的）天父那裡降下。」（天主教教理#2627）教宗方濟各說：「對於天主對我們的祝福，我們也回應以祝福 – 天主教導我們如何祝福，我們也應該通過讚美、朝拜、感恩的祈禱來頌謝天主。」
耶穌教導我們的禱文 — 「天主經」是一篇求恩的禱文。身為受造物，我們必須依賴我們的造物主滿足我們的需求。教理指出：「透過求恩，我們表達我們與天主的關係的意識：我們是受造物，非本原，也不是逆境主宰者，也不是最後的歸宿。身為基督徒，我們也意識到自己是罪人，遠離了我們的父。祈求已經是返回父家的開端。」（天主教教理#2629）
John Hardon神父說：「求恩的祈禱有兩種，一種是為過去，一種是為未來。回顧過去時，我們懇求天主對我們的罪行施以憐憫。展望未來時，我們祈求在世我們自己無法找到或從其他人那裡獲得，但仍然依賴天主供應的事物。在這兩種形式的求恩中，我們明認如果沒有天主的恩寵，我們完全無能力走上通向天國的道路，只有天主才能賜下這恩寵。」
根據教理：「祈求寬恕是求恩祈禱的第一步，正如那稅吏的祈求：『天主，可憐我這個 罪人吧！』 祈求寬恕也是真實而純正的祈禱的準備。」（天主教教理#2631「基督徒的求恩集中在渴望和尋求天國的來臨，這正合乎耶穌的教導。在求恩中存在著等級的差別：首先是天國，然後是為迎接天國和協助天國來臨所需的一切。」（天主教教理#2632）
聖多瑪斯·阿奎納提到「天主經」時說：「我們的祈求應當像我們的渴望一樣是有次序，因為祈禱正顯示了渴望。因此，正確的次序優先是肉身的靈修，將屬天國事物置於單純世間事物之上。這是根據聖經所記載的：「你們先該尋求天主的國和它的義德，這一切自會加給你們。」在此主耶穌教導我們要先尋求天上的事情，然後才是世上的事物。」
關於求恩的祈禱，教宗方濟各說：「有時候似乎一切都在崩潰，迄今為止的生活似乎是徒勞的。在這些情況下，看似是死胡同，唯一的出路就是呼求、祈禱『主啊，請你救我！』祈禱可以在極之黑暗的情況下打開一道銀光。『主啊，請你救我！』這開闢了新的道路，開闢了出路。」
教宗說：「那些祈禱的人從不背棄世界。如果祈禱沒有匯聚人類的歡樂與悲傷、希望與焦慮，就只是一種『裝飾性』的行為，一種表面的、戲劇性的、孤立的方式。在祈禱者的獨處中，無論這獨處持續多久，或許只有半小時，祈禱者都會將自己與一切和所有人隔離，在主內尋找到一切事和人。這些人為整個世界祈禱，承擔著世界的悲傷和罪惡。」
在彌撒中我們為世界祈禱：「上主，但願這與你修好之祭，有助於整個世界的和平與得救。』（感恩經第三式）花地瑪聖母要求三位牧童每天頌念玫瑰經，以獲得世界和平，並承擔所有痛苦，為罪人的皈依而祈求。
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