Worries, anxieties or physical discomfort can distract us, while other distractions may come from the devil. The efforts we make to overcome these distractions make our prayer better and more pleasing to God. False expectations, lack of feeling, disinterest, laziness or weak faith can also make our prayer difficult. God knows what is best for us, and can see that a particular request may not be for our ultimate good. In these cases he gives us some other spiritual gift according to his loving plan for our lives.
Every sincere prayer is answered in some way.
We can pray better by allowing the Holy Spirit to pray in us, remembering that prayer is the duty and privilege of a Christian. It is important to pray at times with others because Jesus wants us to come to prayer as a community. The greatest community prayer is the Mass. As the prayer is said the cross is traced from our forehead to our chest and from one shoulder to the other. We usually make the sign of the cross when we begin and end our prayers and when we enter and leave a church.