Everyone needs prayer. Even science has proven that the process of prayer contributes to overall physical and mental health. But we know with certainty and with faith that prayer is so much more than an exercise in mental health or self help. Prayer is the process of communication with God and of God communicating with us. Yes. God does speak to us and in various ways.  If you can talk, you can pray. If you can think, you can pray.  Too many people make prayer a religious exercise only for the "spiritually elite." This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Prayer is for everyone. God desires to hear your heart and He desires to share His heart with you. There is no prayer too great or too small.

You can! Do not let your feelings or your circumstances keep you from reaching out to God in every moment of your life. Do you feel far from God? Ask for God’s help? Do you have sin in your life? Ask God to forgive you. The more you pray, the more your relationship with God will grow. The words you pray are not about a perfection of presentation to God.  He just wants to hear your heart, your struggles, your passions, your joy, your dreams, your wins and celebrations. 

If we are honest, most of our prayers tend to be focused on our self. But as we progress in our prayer life, we begin to pray for others, for people, for friends, and for loved ones. But God gives us the guidance in scripture to continue to increase what we are praying for to the point where we end up even praying for our enemies. Prayer is so important that scripture literally tells us to pray about everything.

Great question! The disciples of Jesus asked Him the same question. And Jesus gave them the model of what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:5-15 gives us a great model to follow in developing a strong prayer habit and lifestyle.
When you pray, you can talk to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but Jesus teaches us to pray directly to God, the Heavenly Father. Start by honoring God as your Heavenly Father and thanking him for who He is and for all He has done.  Pray for God’s will to be done and for the realities of Heaven to come alive here on earth.  Openly ask God to provide for the needs you have and for guidance that you do your part in working hard and making wise decisions. Search your heart and ask God to reveal in your life what you need to repent of and be forgiven of. God will help you know what you need to make right.  In that process, God will also help you realize who you need to forgive. Our ability to forgive others is directly connected to whether we will be forgiven. Forgiveness matters to having prayers answered. Ask God to strengthen you against temptation and from the attacks of Satan and the kingdom of darkness.