Praying alone is not enough to take us closer to God. Only prayers alone cannot be enough. There are other things that will make our prayers effective. We must understand those things which we have to do so that our prayers can be answered.
Prayers must be back up by faith. An effective prayer is the one which is done in faith. Faith means that we are believing that what we are praying for us able to come to pass. So, we cannot receive our prayers if we don't have faith.
Prayers without work are dead. We should work according to what we are praying for. Work is putting our faith to practice. Work activates our faith. There is no way that someone will show his faith without works. Faith must be accompanied with adequate work before it will produce.
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. When we are praying, let us trust God that He will be able to do the things that we are asking of Him. Let us not pray foolishly or aimlessly. Let our prayers be accompanied with productive work. When we pray in faith and put our faith to work, we will receive the answer to our prayers.