It is not an anonymous petition of your will that must undergo levels of bureaucracy.
It is not a superstitiously rehearsed phrase to bring you protection and good luck.
It is not a gift you are giving to God; It is a gift He's giving to you.
It is a bridge he is opening, by choice, from you to Himself. It's a moment that the creator of the universe pauses to listen to your whispers; to come in close and pay attention to the outpouring of the contents of your heart. It's a magnetic pull from your heart to His.
It's a moment that a Father that IS perfect love offers you a seat beside him to tell him about all of your woes and victories. Most of the time, He just listens. Sits and listens to our heartbeat, while he silently weaves the threads of our lives and the lives of those we touch.
We often mistake this silence for apathy. We think "WHY WONT HE ANSWER ME?!", because we don't understand his handiwork. We don't see him weaving our answer outside of time and our reality.
We also often don't receive a response because we're asking for a scrap of bread, when he's planning a feast, but feasts take time to prepare, and we must trust both the process and the result. We need to trust that if God offers us a promised land, we don't need to settle for the oasis.
Having patience in God's silence while facing great sorrow is a tall order. Reading through Pslams really can paint the picture a Human heart. David praised God's greatness and mercy (Psalm 30), he cried out in fear (psalm 59), and he then he, once more, praised God's mercy and redemption (psalm 85).
Sometimes, in our love for God, or feelings betray us, and we find our reactions to Him to be fickle. This is the human condition.
The beautiful thing about Pslams, however, is that David didn't stop singing out to the Lord after Pslams like
Psalm 60 "You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry--now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times...."
Instead he kept praising God. He knew God was Awesome and that in the darkest times, God's NOT done. He doesn't give up. He doesn't end a sentence with a comma. He keeps weaving that tapestry. He keeps listening to the individual prayers of all his people. All his children have his attention.
Spend time with God in prayer. Talk to him. Listen to him. Be willing to stop life for a moment for him, and trust that His answers are the right answers.
