It isn’t a performance. It’s talking to God, and He wants to hear from you.
Prayer is how you talk to God. Think about it like a marriage. If a husband and wife hardly ever talk, nobody would call that a good relationship. God talks to us through the Bible, and we talk to Him through prayer. If our side goes quiet, the relationship suffers.
A lot of people go quiet in prayer because they think they have to sound like a pastor, or like the King James. You don’t. Jesus said, when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:7). God isn’t impressed by a speech. He wants you to be honest with Him. Paul says, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). Every thing. Your job, your family, your temper, the bill that’s due Friday. Nothing is too small to bring to Him.
And when you honestly don’t know what to say, you’re not on your own. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).
When the disciples wanted to know how to pray, Jesus said, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen (Matthew 6:9-13).
Notice He said after this manner. You can pray those exact words, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but He was showing them how to pray, not handing them something to memorize and repeat. Walk through it and you’ll see the order.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Before you ask for anything, praise Him and thank Him. It puts everything else in the right size.
Thy will be done. Your requests go under His will, not the other way around. Sometimes this is the hardest part of the whole prayer.
Give us this day our daily bread. Notice it says this day. God wants you coming back tomorrow, and the day after that.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Confess your own sin, and let go of what other people owe you. Jesus thought this one mattered enough that He came right back to it after the prayer (Matthew 6:14-15).
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You aren’t strong enough to fight sin on your own, and you don’t have to be.
Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God (Daniel 6:10), and he kept doing it even when it could have cost him his life. Of Jesus, Mark writes, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35). If the Son of God made time to get alone and pray, we don’t have an excuse.
I think the morning is best, before your phone and the rest of the day get to you first, but the time matters less than keeping it. Then keep talking to Him through the day. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) doesn’t mean you’re on your knees all day. It means the conversation never really stops.
The more time you spend in Scripture, the more prayer starts to come from what you've actually been reading, not just what's on your mind. Start there too if you haven't yet.