Hebrews 11:6 V6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Without faith it is impossible to please our Father. So if you don't have the faith in the first place, don't waste God's time and yours with your prayer. God will hear your prayer but don't expect Him to answer. Now don't get down on yourself if you feel your faith is not the greatest. We all don't have the faith of Abraham but if you believe what this verse says, you have faith. How do we diligently seek Him? We do that by studying His word, the Bible. Think of the Bible as our instruction manual for our life. We have questions? His word has the answers. John 14:6 V6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. This is step two in our quest for a better prayer life. You had better believe that Christ was the only begotten Son of God. Also you need to have faith in His works and believe that He is with our Father now in heaven. A good way to show God that you believe in Christ is to ask for things in His name. Will get to what we should be asking for a bit later. Matthew 6:5-15 V5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. When you pray to God don't be like the hypocrites, which are play actors. They like to be seen praying to God in the church or out in the open, it makes them feel very 'religious'. Christianity is a reality not a religion. I'm not saying you should stop going to church. The prayer we are talking about here is a personal need that you are asking God for.