As an example of those whose prayers would not be heard, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote: “Even though you make many prayers, I [Jehovah God] am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled.” (Isaiah 1:15) So any who do not respect the sacredness of life cannot expect their prayers to be heard, no matter how often and how fervently they pray.

Prayer should not be a mere ritual, nor should it be read from a book; neither should prayer contain repetitive phrases as though repetition makes it more effective. And prayer should not be “performed” for show or to impress others. Jesus gave this good counsel about the form our prayers should take and what we should avoid: “When you pray, you must not be as the hypocrites; because they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the broad ways to be visible to men. . . . When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”​—Matthew 6:5-7.