Prayer works. You should do it. Here’s how to make your prayer effective.

What is the point of prayer?

Why do we do it?

Why should we do it?

We walk through our days constantly anxious, unnerved, thinking about the next obstacle, task, challenge.

We worry.

Loved ones, career goals, financial fate — all fodder for our monkey minds.

So why pray?

Good Lord, why not?

Prayer is a healthy sign that we have ceded control of our lives to a Creator who loves us, who wants friendship with us, who desires (even more than we do) happiness for us.

But none of that solves our very real world problems — bills, crazy parents and wayward children, unreasonable bosses and unfulfilling jobs.

So, how do we make prayer more effective? How do we find relief for what ails us?

Try these . . .

#1 — Ask, Ask, Ask.

God said very clearly that if we ask, we shall receive.

But the simple sending of a prayer (like a text or an instant message) is not enough.

We must persist in our prayer.

Keep asking.

Keep reminding Him of our requests.

Two things will happen in our persistence: we will develop a relationship with God, and we will be forced to examine our requests which will lead to self-awareness, an understanding of how God’s world works, and, perhaps, more requests (God likes lists!).

#2 — Silence.

The Desert Fathers insist that the best prayer is silence.

This seems irrational at first. How does God know what we want, or how much it means to us, if we don’t communicate with Him?

Remember, God knows all of our requests before we voice them.

He knows the movement of our hearts. He speaks in a small voice because He is humble and doesn’t want to intrude upon us.

He speaks, also, in feelings and inspirations. How can we hear them if we’re not quiet?

#3 — Gratitude.

Instead of beginning your prayer in frustration, panic or boredom, try starting it with gratitude.

List all of the good things in your life and thank Him for them. Acknowledge that, truly, you would have nothing without Him.

Stop crediting yourself with your achievements and give it where it’s due. In this way, you’re showing Him that He can trust you with future gifts.

#4 — Think of your Loved Ones.

So many of our requests deal with ourselves, our personal successes.

How would the answers to your prayers benefit the people around you, the people God has put in your life? Do you have any problems or difficulties in your relationships with family members and friends? Maybe commit to repairing those relationships through the answers to your prayers?

Its not a deal, remember. It’s not bribery. God doesn’t respond to that. It’s a commitment to Him that you will use His gifts to benefit the people around you.

#5 — Think of the Whole World.

This is an extension of point #4. God loves His Creation and, most of all, He loves us — the human race. He wants to help each other. He wants us to benefit as many of our fellow members of the race as we can.

So get humble.

Get on your knees if it helps.

Push your own selfish desires out of your head and ask Big. Go big or go home. Tell Him you want to save the world.

Remember that God wants a relationship with you. A friendship. The challenges in your life are there to drive you to Him. Stop fretting and take advantage of those obstacles.

You may just find that, after you get everything you want, the relationship you forged with Him was the greatest of all His gifts.

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