I'm not very good at prayer.  I would bet that almost every Christian would say that and mention that they wish they did one of two things better: 1) prayed more frequently or 2) prayed more passionately.  

I have a hard time when I'm put on the spot; almost as though someone is handing me a mic and saying, "Alright now, Nick, talk to your Creator."  I mumbled like an idiot when I got the courage to talk to Britney Spears one night - it can be even worse sometimes when I pray and really picture who I'm talking to (see verse 12 below).  

That's why I like to pray with the Bible open.  They're God's words, use them!  It's like Obama's teleprompter x 3,000,000,000.  I especially like to pray with the Psalms because they're worship-directed and use language that exalts God and humbles men.

For a brief example, the other morning I read Psalm 102.  It's encouraging and strengthening to see how other godly people have prayed and, since the Bible is the best teacher for this, to learn while letting them guide you.

For example, Psalm 102 is desperate and pleading; a tone we're probably familiar with in the Psalms.  But it comes alive when you start to see the structure in it.

The Psalmist opens in verse 1 by pleading with God to hear his prayer.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!"

As the psalm continues you see this thread stretch to two other important points; from a plea to assurance (in v.17) and fulfillment (in v. 18-20).

17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

18 Let this be frecorded for ga generation to come,
so that ha people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free kthose who were doomed to die,

He says that the answer for prayer was to be written down for a generation to come, as a sort of proof, a reminder of God's goodness.  We can ask, seek, and knock based on how God has proven Himself faithful and good to us in the past.  In our Twittering generation we flutter in the present and forget the past; but it's precisely how God has shown us who He is in the past that enables us to have assurance and hope for the future in the present.

There's something else in this psalm that can help us in our prayer, something much more needed by our self-exalting hearts; and that is to see how the psalmist speaks of himself and God.  This is most easily seen in verses 11 and 12.

11 My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.

"My days are like an evening shadow."  How feeble is a shadow?  Powerless, unable to do anything but mimic the object it's cast from, completely dependent on light and an object for its existence, and gone the moment one of those two elements are gone.  This is one of those thoughts that gets blithely jumbled about when someone dies.  It's hardly a reality we live in as invincible, impenetrable, self-directing Americans (even amidst a recession).

"But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever".  By contrast, God is described as on a throne, in the position of absolute authority.  He's not there for a 4 year term either, He's there forever; long before and long after we've withered like grass.

God's faithfulness in the past gives us assurance and hope as we approach Him in the present; and it's our complete helplessness and impermanence in the face of His unchanging sovereignty and love that drive us to cast ourselves at His feet in prayer.