Eccl. 5:1-3

v. 1-3 "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 

Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God. 
God is in heaven and you are on earth,
so let your words be few. 
As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words."

Pay close attention to warnings in the bible, many have disregarded them at great cost.  When we come before God it should not be another thing on our To Do List.  I admit I don't always get in the right frame of mind before I enter into His presence.  When I take a few moments to set my heart before Him then I am much more in awe of Him.  He created everything and we should be respectful to Him and be humble in our approach.  Check your heart when you are near God because He will surely see your motives behind your prayers.  It says that we should listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools.  How many times are you still before Him?  How many times do you go on and on about your prayers or problems?  Think of how you say things to God.  Are you giving thanks, asking for forgiveness of sins or just asking for things you want? 

Before Jesus they used to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins.  So someone repeating their sins over and over and sacrificing animals chose the routine instead of letting God renew them.  We are creatures of habit and I know that it is hard to change, but it can be done.  I know that prayer can be hard if we have to keep our words to a minimum.  God knows what we are going to pray even before we do so why do we feel the need to go on and on.  I try to keep my prayers short, sometimes they will be too long and I try to get back to my normal routine.  My focus is being thankful for what He has given me so I tell Him daily and praying for others.  Of course I pray for things I need or want, but I do not want that to overtake the other things I pray for.  Some nights I just give thanks because I am amazed at what He has done in my life.  I don't think anything is off limits to pray for as long as it's not from evil motives.  You can ask for anything like fame or money, but that doesn't mean that God will give it to you.  Those things are not to be the focus, if they are then we may start to think that He is a genie in a bottle instead of an amazing Father.  A parent knows when a child is ready to have certain things.  God knows our heart and He may never give us some things we desperately think we need.  We need to let go of some things and be thankful. 

Watch what you pray for because you may get it then regret it.  He gives in His timing and the things given might not be how you thought them to be after all.  Also bashing on people during prayer (they really should have known better than to do that, that person is so mean, etc) shows judgment no matter what the other person did.  I do not believe that God is overly happy when we bring others down in front of Him, remember they are also His children just like you.