We continue our series on the 5 basic forms of prayer this weekend. So far we’ve talked about prayers of adoration & prayers of intercessions, & this weekend we’ll look at prayers of petition.

Prayers of petition are very similar to the prayers of intercession that we looked at last week, with one difference, their focus. While in prayers of intercession we are interceding for the needs of others, when we pray prayers of petition, we are bringing, not the needs of others, but our own needs before God. We intercede for others, we petition for ourselves, I guess that you could say.

Like prayers of intercession, we are likely very familiar with this type of prayer. We can probably call to mind at least a few times we’ve engaged in both of these forms of prayer over the past week. But, while we don’t need much instruction on what this form of prayer is all about, there is one important lesson when it comes to praying prayers of petition.
A few weekends ago, you probably remember that I was not feeling well & was unable to celebrate Mass. That weekend, the gospel talked about how if we seek, we will find, & how if we knock, the door will be opened, sounds like prayers of petition.

I had a homily all ready for that weekend that I couldn’t give that talked about how while Jesus said that, there was one key idea in there that Jesus didn’t say. While we seek & we will find & while we knock & the door will be opened, we won’t always find & the door won’t always be opened AS WE WANT. Yes, I know that might not make perfect grammatical sense as we worded it, but the point is there. When we pray prayers of petition, & yes, even prayers of intercession, our prayers should always contain an intent to accept God’s will whether He answers our intercession or petition in the way we would like Him to, or He answers it some other way.

For in both prayers of intercession & prayers of petition, God will always answer, He will always open the door, He will never leave us empty-handed. God may not take away the illness, the hurt, or the pain, but maybe the door that He’ll open is the strength to face the challenges ahead or the knowledge that He is with us through it all. When we pray, we should also pray for eyes & hearts that are open to seeing where & how He is working.