“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
If we want to build a normal relationship with God, we must make true prayer to God. We should speak the words from our heart to God, tell God our real spiritual state, difficulties and confusions, seek God’s will and the way to practice, thus, we are after God’s heart. Instead, if we just say some empty praise or speak some doctrinal words in our prayers, but don’t have a genuine connection with God nor open our hearts to Him to express ourselves, which is similar to the words in the Book of Isaiah: “For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me…” (Isa 29:13). This kind of prayer is without sincerity. In the eyes of God, we are cheating Him. God doesn’t acknowledge this prayer, much less does He listen to these careless prayers. As a result, we will not be approved by Him, let alone build a proper relationship with Him.
God says, “What does it mean to truly pray? It means speaking the words within your heart to God, and communing with God having grasped His will and based upon His words; it means feeling particularly close to God, feeling that He is in front of you, and that you have something to say to Him; and it means being especially radiant within your heart, and feeling that God is especially lovely. You will feel especially inspired, and after hearing your words your brothers and sisters will feel gratified, they will feel that the words you speak are the words within their hearts, the words they wish to say, and that what you say represents what they want to say. This is what it means to truly pray. After you have truly prayed, in your heart you will feel at peace, and gratified; the strength to love God will rise up, and you will feel that nothing in your entire life is more worthy or significant than loving God—and all this will prove that your prayers have been effective. Have you ever prayed in such a way?”