r prayer is merely asking for what we want; consequently prayer is not
an act of the virtue of religion.

Yet not only to ask for what we desire, but to desire rightly,
falls under precept; to desire, indeed, falls under the precept
of charity, but to ask falls under the precept of religion--the
precept which is laid down in the words: _Ask and ye shall
receive_.[118]

3. Lastly, the virtue of religion embraces due worship and ceremonial
offered to the Divinity; prayer, however, offers God nothing, but only
seeks to obtain things from Him.

In prayer a man offers to God his mind, which he subjects to Him
in reverence, and which he, in some sort, lays bare before
Him--as we have just seen in S. Denis's words. Hence, since the
human mind is superior to all the other exterior or bodily
members, and also to all exterior things which have place in the
Divine worship, it follows that prayer, too, is pre-eminent
among the acts of the virtue of religion.

_Cajetan:_ In prayer or petition there are three things to be
considered: the thing petitioned for, the actual petition, and the
petitioner. As far, then, as the thing petitioned for is concerned, we
give nothing to God when we pray; rather we ask Him to give us
something. But if we consider the actual petition, then we do offer
something to God when we pray. For the very act of petitioning is an act
of subjection; it is an acknowledgment of God's power. And the proof of
this is that proud men would prefer to submit to want rather than humble
themselves by asking anything of others. Further, the petitioner, by the
very fact that he petitions, acknowledges that he whom he petitions has
the power to assist him, and is merciful, or just, or provident; it is
for this reason that he hopes to be heard. Hence petition or prayer is
regarded as an act of the virtue of religion, the object of which is to
give honour to God. For we honour God by asking things of Him, and this
by so much the more as--whether from our manner of asking or from the
nature of what we ask for--we acknowledge Him to be above all things, to
be our Creator, our Provider, our Redeemer, etc. And this is what S.
Thomas points out in the body of the Article. But if we consider the
petitioner: then, since man petitions with his mind--for petition is an
act of the mind--and since the mind is the noblest thing in man, it
follows that by petitioning we submit to God tha