You bring up a theme I hear a lot. I call it The Cosmic Vending Machine.

People put a prayer in The Cosmic Vending Machine and expect to get out a miracle. They get really disappointed when nothing pops out. 8{)

What if God talked to us the way we all talk to Him - gimme gimme gimme? I doubt if many of us would listen for very long.

I like to use the Lord's Prayer as a model for my own prayers. The Lord's Prayer contains just five lines. Only two-and-a-half of those are requests - "Give us our daily bread", "Forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us.", and "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".

The other two-and-a-half verses of the Lord’s Prayer is all about worshipping and honoring God. Think how deep our relationship with God would be if we spent half of our time basically saying "Thank you" to Him. I always try to start my prayers by thanking God and ending by asking for His guidance. I really believe He wants the best for us, and He will give it to us, if we would just listen to Him.