1. The true significance of prayer to God is to understand the truth and attain obedience to God and worship of God. You must not, under any circumstances, engage in religious ceremony.
2. You must draw upon your practical difficulties and problems when praying to God. You must not depart from reality and speak empty words, or talk of letters and doctrines.
3. You must frequently pray to God about the problems of performing your duty and entering into life, seeking to understand the truth and enter reality.
4. There must be reverence for God in your prayers, and you must be reasonable. You may not make demands of God, coerce God, or take advantage of God, much less may you make trades with God.
Prayer is not a case of going through the formalities, or following procedure, or reciting the words of God, which is to say, prayer does not mean parroting words and copying others. In prayer, you must give your heart to God, sharing the words in your heart with God so that you may be touched by God. If your prayers are to be effective, then they must be based on your reading of God’s words. Only by praying amid God’s words will you be able to receive more enlightenment and illumination. A true prayer is shown by having a heart that yearns for the requirements made by God, and being willing to fulfill these requirements; you will be able to hate all that God hates, upon the basis of which you will have knowledge, and will know and be clear about the truths explained by God. Having the resolution, and faith, and knowledge, and a path by which to practice after praying—only this is truly praying, and only prayer such as this can be effective. Yet prayer must be built upon the foundation of enjoying God’s words and communing with God in His words, your heart being able to seek God and being at peace before God. Such prayer has already reached the point of true communion with God.
from “Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh