Prayer is the raising up of our hearts and mind to God. God does not answer prayers based on the number of words used, or based on the correctness of the grammar. God listens to our prayers based on the sincerity of our hearts and our reverence when in His presence.
Prayer must not be lengthy to be effective. It could be short and simple and still move the heart of God. It is not the complexity of your prayers that make God answer us favourably, rather, it’s the purity of our hearts. “If you do not obey the law, God will find your prayers too hateful to hear” Proverb 28: 9
“Don’t think that the Lord is too weak to save you or too deaf to hear you call for help! It is because of your sins that He doesn’t hear you. It is your sins that separates you from God when you try to worship him”. Isiah 59: 1-2. This is why even in the ‘Our Father’ Jesus taught us to always ask for forgiveness when praying to God the father. After thanking Him for His goodness, ask Him for pardon. We are humans and imperfect but God loves humility, He wants to see us cry to Him sorrowfully for our sins. When we do so with sincerity of heart, He forgets all that we have done, and listens to us.
There’s no point trying to sound cool when praying. Rather, talk to Jesus like you are talking to your father, and your best friend. He is the only person who understands you in the whole world and wants the best for you. If we begin to see God in this manner, we wouldn’t only run to Him when we are in need of help. Rather, we would be in constant communication with Him. Living in constant union with Him and adoring Him in our surroundings.
Being in constant communication with God means that when things happen, He’s the first person you tell. You don’t really need to wait until you are able to kneel down and pray. Rather, you go into yourself and tell Him about it. When faced with certain choices, we take it to God and reflect deeply about it in His presence. Your every move should be in God’s presence. You should speak, fully aware that God is listening. You should talk to Him constantly in your heart. When faced with certain crises or setbacks, you will find that you do not feel so alone, because all this while, you have constantly communicated with Him in your heart and you know and believe that Christ is fully aware of every situation and because He wants the best for you, he would never let you down.
Living in constant communion with God improves our faith greatly because irrelevant things no longer bother us and we have come to understand that God whom we have been conversing with all this while is not asleep and he would definitely save us.
Now, if you live in constant communication with God, I doubt that you would see the need to kneel down and say many irrelevant things just so that God would listen. Rather, you would find yourself kneeling down and adoring God and worshiping Him and showering Him with praises and thanksgiving because He is you father and you are awed by the many graces He has showered on you despite your unworthiness.
Even when we are weighed down by certain trials we would kneel down and cry to God with sincerity of hearts telling Him about our sorrow and pain and reminding Him of the promises He made to us in His word.
Every day, we come across certain trials or difficulties, but we are called to tackle all situations through fervent prayers. Although we ought to seek the will of the Lord in all things, we are still called to pray in the face of difficulties that we may be relieved of our suffering. Certain problems can only be solved by prayer Mark 9: 29. Always remind God of His promises to you in His Word. Pray to God using His own Word and promises. It works.
But pray to God with more sincerity and reverence. He is God and He is mighty. Approach Him with reverence.
