Matthew 6:7-9
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

It’s not crying out, hoping to be heard.  We don’t need to pray like we have to get God’s attention.  He is already focused on us, but we need to focus on Him.  It’s not that we have to be an informant to some distant God of what is happening in our lives and what we need.  He knows everything already, but He wants us to talk to Him and interact with Him.  It’s really a personal conversation with our Father.  It is time spent in the presence of a holy God who knows us intimately.  It is worship and fellowship with the God of heaven, the Creator of all things, the originator of our lives.

So we don’t have to just hope God is there or that He hears.  We don’t have to just hope He’ll supply and answer our cries.  We don’t have to just hope that He can do something, but we can know with certainty.  So we don’t have to pray doubting, faithless prayers, but we can pray like we know Him, believe Him, and trust Him.

We approach with a childlike faith.  And we can pray with the faith that God is, that He is holy and sovereign.  We pray with the faith that He knows us and knows our needs.  We approach with humility, recognizing His greatness, seeking His will.  We approach with an understanding of the God we bow before and pray with a right heart and a right perspective.  It is purposeful and focused on the one we bring our petitions to.

Are we willing to do prayer God’s way?  He invites us to come into His presence.  He invites us to have a dialogue with Him.  He invites us to lay our burdens down before Him.  He wants us to acknowledge Him as our God and the source of what we need.  He wants us to seek His face and build a relationship with Him.  He wants to talk to us as we open our hearts to Him.  He is our loving Father who allows us that privilege of a private one-on-one relationship with Him.  So are we making time to spend with Him?