What a great gift is prayer! It has unlimited power and brings grace to those who pray according to God’s will. We as Christians should always pray to God, anytime, anywhere. And even if our wishes are fulfilled or not, we should still thank Him. Sometimes He listens, sometimes He doesn’t, because He knows even before we ask, what is good or bad for us.

But still, in order to receive what we need, we have to ask it through prayer. Sometimes, when children ask their parents for something, their parents don’t always give them what they’ve asked for, because they love being asked, and they want to hear their children asking for more. In a similar way, God, who loves man so much, doesn’t always give him what he wants because He wants us to talk to Him more, in order to deliver us from pain, sorrow and danger.

(Translated from Protosinghel Nicodim Măndiță, Învățături despre rugăciune, Editura Agapis, București, 2008, p. 57)