Prayer Definitions Monday
A petition is very simply the act of asking someone for something. It is a stronger way of saying “request,” and generally carries some air of formality to it, as in petitioning the government. A prayer of petition is a formal prayer asking God for specific things, though it is said with informal language. Your job today is to think about your prayer habits and the results of your prayers by answering this question: Are your prayers of petition granted?
Creative Idea Gal’s Thoughts
A little child who can barely speak and an old person on his deathbed have equal access to prayers of petition. Despite its definition, prayers of petition don’t necessarily need formality for them to work, just sincerity and faith. That applies to prayers of petition that are directed to God. How about prayers directed to others? Can anyone else address prayers of petition?
Yes! Interestingly, there is a huge movement in the Catholic tradition towards offering prayers of petition to patron saints. Among the most popular of the saints are St. Jude and St. Joseph. The feast of St. Joseph will take place tomorrow, March 19th. Did you know that in the Middle Ages, the Italians prayed to St. Joseph asking for rain to help fix a severe drought at that time? They promised to honor St. Joseph with a huge feast for bringing them rain. From that moment forward, the fava bean became symbolic of St. Joseph, as it represented the food crop brought about by the rain.
Helpful Resources
For today’s prompt, I offer:
A story about my most recent prayer of petition that was granted, just yesterday.
An interesting opportunity for people to place prayers of petition at the grotto of Lourdes, in France.
Well-reasoned thoughts on why Jewish people should recite petitionary prayer.
Writing Prompt 031
- Step 1: Research prayers of petition. Try to get a few viewpoints from different religions in a definition.
- Step 2: Reflect upon your own prayer habits. Determine whether you recite prayers of petition. What do you ask for? Who do you pray to?
- Step 3: Answer the question: Are your prayers of petition granted? Be prepared to discuss your reasons either way. Write! Add definitions and personal perspectives. Suggestion: create your writing in the form of an opinion, essay, blog post, or social media blurb (status update, post, tweet).
- Bonus Step: If you own a blog and wish to share a link to the blog post that contains your response to today’s writing prompt, we welcome your permalink and encourage you to post it as a comment below!
Note: You get major brownie points for fleshing out your writing into rich subparts or adding historical perspectives to your writing.
Please be sure to leave comments about this writing prompt. We want to hear from you!
About the Author
Amanda M. Socci, J.D., is a freelance writer with 14 years of experience writing professionally. Socci currently cuts her blogging chops on her personal portfolio blog, the Creative Idea Gal blog, and on an online news site, Mount Vernon Patch. Inspired by Nina Amir’s Write Nonfiction in November writing challenge, she created a unique 10-month training program for Writenonfictionnow.com and Writenonfictioninnovember.com blog visitors.
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When Moses and Elijah joined Jesus on the mountain in Matthew 17, God redirected the disciples’ focus back to Jesus. The Lord also says He will not share His glory with anyone else (Isaiah 48:11), not a patron saint, nor a preacher, nor a place. He is the only One who deserves our worship and prayers. God wanted a relationship with us so bad that He sent His Son to lead us back to Himself; He loves to listen and respond to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7:15)! I am learning to trust His answers, whether that petition is sent via a journal entry, a song or a breath throughout the day.
Thanks for your comment, Sally.
Sally Ferguson:
Sounds like you have some pretty good research ready to be added to your nonfiction writing in response to this writing prompt. I encourage you to “make it official” and then post here again once you’ve completed your writing. Thank you.