CCC 2632 Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ.1 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. This collaboration with the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the object of the prayer of the apostolic community.2 It is the prayer of Paul, the apostle par excellence, which reveals to us how the divine solicitude for all the churches ought to inspire Christian prayer.3 By prayer every baptized person works for the coming of the Kingdom.
CCC 2636 The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely.4 Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the Gospel5 but also intercedes for them.6 The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: “for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions,” for persecutors, for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.7
1 Cf. Mt 6:10, 33; Lk 11:2,13.
2 Cf. Acts 6:6; 13:3.
3 Cf. Rom 10:1; Eph 1:16-23; Phil 1911; Col 1:3-6; 4:3-4, 12.
4 Cf. Acts 12:5; 20:36; 21:5; 2 Cor 9:14.
5 Cf. Eph 6:18-20; Col 4:3-4; 1 Thess 5:25.
6 Cf. 2 Thess 1:11; Col 1:3; Phil 1:3-4.
7 2 Tim 2:1; cf. Rom 12:14; 10:1.