Hebrews 11:6
Belief That God Exists
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Deuteronomy 4:29-31
Seek God with Your Heart
29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
Matthew 6:5-15
Jesus on Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
John 4:24
God is Unseen, and God is Spirit
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Luke 19:9-14
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector -Be Humble in Prayer
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Matthew 7:9-12
Our Father Wants to Give Us Good Things
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Acts 17:24-28
God is Not Served by Humans, and Does Not Need Anything
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Pray Continually
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:5
Our Father Gives Us the Holy Spirit
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Acts 10:45
Our Father Gives Everyone the Holy Spirit
45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
There are many things we are taught about prayer in Scripture...We are told we first must have faith and to believe in Him...For our prayers to be answered, we must seek Him, and this seeking must be done sincerely and with our heart and our soul...Because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him- and prays to Him...It is good to call God, Father...We are His offspring...And because of this, He is our Father...Therefore our prayers deal with our relationship with Him...It is a Father-son relationship, or a Father-daughter relationship...Thus, it is a family relationship, when we pray...Let us not forget Jesus was always teaching this...He said that God is in heaven and is our Father -and this relationship is a key to our prayers...
We pray because we need it, not because our Father needs it...Our Father made the world and everything in it, and we are His offspring...Each of is a child of God...He gave us each our appointed time on earth, and gives everyone life and breath and everything else...Our Father did this so that we might seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us....He is a Mystery and is Spirit...He is near us in this Spirit, and the Holy Spirit that He has put in each of us -makes Him always near to us...
Jesus tells us, it is better, to make our prayers privately and go into a room and shut the door and pray to our Father, who is Spirit, and unseen...This might have been a lesson for His people (in His day) who might have thought that they should pray, for the most part, in a synagogue or the Temple...He is now telling everyone that we have access to our Father in our own rooms and houses...Our prayers are not to be motivated by showing others that we pray...Prayer comes from the heart...So pray by yourself, and direct your prayers sincerely from your heart...Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you with answered prayers...In His Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, He teaches us not to be arrogant or exalt ourselves, but we are to be humble when we pray... And as St. Paul reminds us, we should pray regularly, pray often, and pray continually...
There are two difficult things I see here in prayer...We should ask (even though this is difficult) as Jesus puts it Your Kingdom come, and for our Father's will to be done and not our personal will or wishes...We sometimes, in our prayers, want this done or that to be done personally...And those things will get done, if it is His will...When we trust Him, it is good for our prayers and our praying...But asking for personal things is not wrong in prayer, because He is our Father, and as a Father He always wants to help...Our Father in heaven wants to give good gifts to those who ask Him...
Another interesting thing is the connection Jesus makes with forgiveness...In the LORD's Prayer (His Prayer) He ties our forgiveness to our willingness and ability to forgive others...He says if we forgive other people, when they sin against us, then our heavenly Father will then forgive us...But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins...This forgiveness linkage is very interesting, because it is the LORD's Prayer that includes the forgiveness connection...
Our Father is always near, and may He bless us in our times of prayers...