Praying can be frustrating. Most Christians are convinced that they should pray more than they do. But it’s hard. Some don’t pray because they don’t know what to say. It can seem that the best praying is done by super-spiritual types who have command of some sacred vocabulary.
Others have been urged to pray with the rationale that prayer is supposedly a powerful procedure. If it’s done correctly, prayer will get “results.” Or so goes the commonplace thinking. But when people don’t see “results,” they conclude that there is something wrong with them or with the words they are saying. If we should pray because prayer works, then by that same logic, we should stop praying if it doesn’t work. And many have.