We are told by the Masters of the Spiritual Life that prayer has four ends, namely: To give God honor and glory; to thank Him for His benefits, to make atonement for our sins; and to ask Him for His benefits. So the ends of prayer are: loving adoration, thanksgiving, atonement, and petition.
Now, because petition comes last in this order, there are some who have the idea that petition is not quite so elevated, and really less perfect than the other forms of prayer. In a word, they think that there is something selfish about asking God for favors, instead of giving him glory and telling Him how we love Him. This idea is not only incorrect, but it could result in grave damage to our love of God and our spiritual progress.
The truth is that Petition in itself is neither good nor evil. It takes its nature and its value from its object. Thus if you ask for something that is neither good nor evil, your petition itself is indifferent; but if you ask for something good, e.g., the love of God, your petition itself is an act of virtue. The Our Father, the most perfect prayer ever uttered, is throughout, a Prayer of Petition. If you go carefully through the Missal, you will find that there is not a single prayer in the Mass that does not ask God for something.
St. Alphonsus points out (he does this especially when speaking of our hope of heaven) that there is a vast difference between asking favors of men and asking favors of God. In asking favors of men we are asking them for their goods, and this can indeed arise from a selfish motive. But in asking favors from God if our prayer has the qualities it should have) we are asking Him for Himself, and the possession of God is the whole object and end of our existence.
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