2721 The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the 1~ft of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart.

2722 Vocal prayer,founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ’s example ofpraying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.

2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.

2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze offaith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.


Article 2

THE BATTLE OF PRAYER

2725 Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. 2612, 409 Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the Tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The ‘spiritual 2015 battle’ of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.


I• Objections to Prayer 2726 In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions ofprayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they ‘don’t have the time’. Those who seek God by prayer 2710 are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone. 2727 We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of ‘this present world’ can penetrate our lives if