What Prayer is
24/7 Communication with the Lord
You don't have to be in a church to pray and it certainly isn't necessary to kneel. God hears every prayer, from a silent one in our head, or a whispered one when we're alone, to a scream like "God help me - the brakes don't work!". God acts on what He hears. If necessary He answers them immediately, but on occasions He tests our faith by making us wait for a while. Not only does He answer prayers, but sometimes He more than answers them, by giving us something better than we asked for.
It is better to ask God to help us with life's problems rather than to simply ask for particular things to happen. You and God make a great team and you can both share the satisfaction when the prayer is answered.
Some Christians prefer to address their prayers to God while others pray to Jesus. It doesn't matter. Both are referred to as Lord. Jesus asked whether a parent would give their child a stone on being asked for bread, or a snake on being asked for fish. Of course not! So, because God is our Father, won't He give us good things if we only ask Him? Like any father, He doesn't approve of a request ending with "I want it all and I want it now!" Our prayers should be for good things and for good reasons. It is good to pray that someone's health improves, but not to ask God to make your team win the game at the expense of the other team.
God promises us that good, sincere prayers will be answered, but, like a father, He expects us to trust Him and to be patient. The answer to a prayer might involve a process rather than a one-off event, so be patient and wait for the Lord to act. Trust Him.
People pray at different times for different reasons. Not everyone gets the opportunity, but some are able to devote 5 minutes each day in some private place, such as the garden, the bathroom, or the bedroom, to saying a prayer or two.
Sometimes they simply feel happy to be alive and they want to praise God. Sometimes they want to ask Him for help with something in their lives. Sometimes they want to say sorry for something they feel ashamed about and want to be forgiven for. And sometimes they need to say a big thank you to Him for something that has happened.
It is possible to combine all of these into one daily prayer in the format P-A-C-T.
P = Praise. A = Asking. C = Confessing. T = Thanking.
The actual words will vary day by day.
For example on Monday a whispered prayer might consist of "[Praise] Praise the Lord for He has been generous. [Asking] Please help me with the work I have to do this morning. [Confessing] I'm sorry I was irritable with my mother yesterday. I'll say sorry to her when I see her. [Thanking] Thank you that the thing I was so worried about yesterday came to nothing. Amen."
On Tuesday it might be, "Praise the Lord for this glorious weather. Please help me when I go to the dentist today. I'm sorry I avoided that lady collecting for charity; I'll put some cash in the next charity collection I see. Thank you that the work I did yesterday was successful. Amen."
Prayer is easy and God is happy that we've remembered Him. It is also a sign of our faith. Is it possible that God may look more favourably on the person who prays every day than on the one who only prays in an emergency?