What is the purpose of praying?  For years I have taught that prayer is talking with God.  If we have any relationship with God, it is easy to understand that we are communicating with Him in some form.  When we are children, most of us told or asked our parents what we needed every day.  Does this sound like something we still do, but with our heavenly Father?  Jesus reminded us that our prayer should be focused on the Father's will and not our own.  So as we pray, let us pray that which is in the Father's heart.  This may be a hard thing to do if we have not spent any time with the Father.  There is good news though, when you spend time with someone, you will get to know them better.  Now let us take a look at the word "pray" in Hebrew.  There are a few things associated with prayer in ancient Hebrew.  We are given the associations of incense, a cloud, righteous judgment, and an open mouth leading and guiding.  There is so much that can be said on the topic of prayer.  The most basic explanation we are given in the ancient Hebrew pictograph is the open mouth and a staff.  When we speak, let it be as Christ, the Good Shepherd, who does the will of the Father.