"Many of our prayers are also somewhat like this: they are requests for favors addressed to the Lord, without any real interest in him. We go to ask, to ask, to ask the Lord. The Gospel notes that Jesus was often surrounded by many people who sought him out in order to obtain something: healing, material assistance, but not simply to be with him. He was pushed by the crowds, yet he was alone. Some saints, and even some artists, have contemplated this condition of Jesus. It may seem strange, unreal, to ask the Lord: “How are you?” Instead, it is a beautiful way to enter into a true, sincere relationship, with his humanity, with his suffering, even with his singular solitude. With him, with the Lord, who wanted to share his life with us to the full.

"It does us a great deal of good to learn to be with him, to be with the Lord, to learn to be with the Lord without ulterior motives, exactly as it happens with people we care for: we wish to know them more and more, because it is good to be with them." (Pope Francis)

The prime focus of prayer should be the Lord, not ourselves. "Be still and know that I am the Lord." This was the Lord's way of saying the same thing. Prayer is being with him and for him, not for him to be with us for us. This may be hard for many, but it is the way to deeper intimacy with God. Maybe the reason we find it hard to pray is the focus is on ourselves rather in praise and worship of God. Our petitions should be almost like after thoughts.