Part Four: Christian Prayer › Section One of Part Four: Prayer in the Christian Life

› CHAPTER 1: The Revelation of Prayer: The Universal Call to Prayer › CHAPTER 2: The Tradition of Prayer › CHAPTER 3: The Life of Prayer

Questions and Answers

2628. What is prayer? (CCC 2559) Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.
2629. How does St Augustine explain that in our prayer God makes the first step? (CCC 2560) St Augustine († 430) explains that in our prayer God makes the first step, by saying: “God thirsts that we may thirst for Him.”
2630. What does Scripture identify as the human source of prayer? (CCC 2562) Scripture identifies the heart as the human source of prayer.
2631. What is the heart? (CCC 2563) The heart is our hidden centre, the dwelling-place where I am.
2632. Who only can fully know the human heart? (CCC 2563) Only the Spirit of God can fully know the human heart.
2633. Whose action is Christian prayer? (CCC 2564) Christian prayer is the action of God and of man in Christ.
2634. What is the life of prayer? (CCC 2565) The life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of and in communion with the Trinity.