Just as one needs to communicate appropriately with one’s friends and family to maintain relationships, one needs to pray, converse with God on a regular basis. Prayer should not be motivated solely by our temporal desires, but by our need to grow in faith and become more intimate with God.
Unfortunately, we often experience God as a capricious figure whom we can manipulate with the “right” prayer formula, ritual or devotion, thinking that our insistence might magically convince Him to give us what we want, regardless of the goodness of our request. Prayer is not only asking, but also listening.