Prayer is a uniquely individual thing. How you do it is between you and He with Whom you are speaking. Notice I didn't say, "to whom", but rather "with whom", implying that prayer
should be a two way conversation. I don't believe there is a set way that one must pray. We can pray standing up, lying down, kneeling, sitting, while driving, lying prostrate -- heck, even sitting on the toilet
cover
! I have experienced all of the above.
Like Katzpur says, it's whether or not we are focused on what we're doing that counts. Like Katzpur, I too tend to fall asleep when I pray in bed... so I generally avoid that position. I would like to go one step further than Katzpur, though, and say that what really matters, beyond being focused, is that it truly is a two-way conversation. How is that achieved?
Only by including the entire Godhead in the process. But we have to have a complete and correct understanding of what/Who the Godhead is in order to understand how to include the entire Godhead in our prayers.
Latter Day Saints believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct personages who are unified as One in purpose (this is in direct defiance to the Nicene Creed, which defines God as all three in one person). God the Father is the father of our spirits. Jesus Christ is the literal offspring of God (Mary concieved by the power of the Holy Ghost, as the Bible clearly describes). He was also God's firstborn, and was with Him in the beginning. That is to say, Christ was the first spirit child begotten of God, and the
only child begotten in the flesh. Because Christ was the first-born in spirit, perhaps by millenia, he was obviously far more advanced and knowledgeable than the rest of us. He was God's prodigy, His most beloved. Christ grew in knowledge under the direct tutelage of His Father. Eventually, he learned all that his Father knew, and thereby became as One with Him.
There. We now have a clear understanding of how Christ and his Father are two distinct beings, united in purpose. Where does the 3rd personage, the Holy Ghost come in? As for when or where he came into the picture, I don't have an answer. But the necessity for his existence is clear. As Latter Day Saints, we also believe in the progression of mankind. Believing that Jesus Christ was once a man, with a body of flesh and blood, and is now a resurrected being -- still possessing a glorified body of flesh and blood -- AND, knowing that man was created in the image and likeness of God, it follows that God, too, has a body just like ours. If not, how could we be made in His image?
Now, as much as some spiritualists think they can enter into another person's body, or read their thoughts, they can't.. Neither God nor Christ can enter into our bodies or convey messages to our minds via ESP or any other questionable practice. If we believe that our consciousness is our spirit, and our spirits inhabit this mortal tabernacle, there is only one way that we can communicate with our Father and His Son, and they with us -- and that is, spirit to spirit. And, just as our spirits can't jump out of our bodies and run up to heaven to talk with God face to face, His spirit can't either. Not only would it be impractical, it is fundamentally contrary to the laws of the universe. Some would say, "God is God -- He can do anything he wants." Sure he can -- but only within the bounds of the Law. Otherwise there is chaos, yada yada... that's another discussion. So, to get back on track, there must needs be a messenger, or emissary; a 3rd member of the Godhead, whose purpose (one of many) is to serve as a contact between God and his children who are here on earth. He it is whose glory it is to remain in spirit, without a mortal body. It is through the Holy Ghost that our prayers are carried to our Father in Heaven. And, it is through that same spirit that our loving Father speaks back. The grand key, then, to having your prayers heard and answered is to attune your heart to the same "frequency" as the Holy Ghost. When your mind and will are in tune with the mind and will of the Father, the Holy Ghost carries your heart-fealt pleadings to your Father. He in turn sends back His loving reply. Sometimes that reply comes in the form of comfort (is it a coincidence that the Holy Ghost is also knows as the Comforter?). Sometimes, the holy emissary carries instructions to the mind of another human being, prompting them to answer your prayers (often without their knowledge). Sometimes, if it is direct wisdom you seek from your Father, the Holy Ghost will speak the answer directly to your soul, and you will feel it deeply in your bosom in such a sacred special way that can not be duplicated nor described.
So, where does Christ fit in to all of this? Not 100% sure, other than to say that we pray to our Father
in the name of Christ. Christ is our advocate with the Father ("...we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous..." 1 John 2:1), meaning that he intercedes in our behalf. Perhaps the Holy Ghost relays our messages to Christ, who decides which should be relayed to the Father (there may well be others involved in this whole relaying of messages... who knows? I've always wondered how God could hear and answer millions of prayers at once... but He's got a system in place that works somehow. This I know, because
He answers my prayers, and if He answers
mine,
He must answer everyone's -- because God is no respecter of persons.) The actual mechanics of how Christ is involved is really not important. What is important is that Christ is an absolutely necessary part of our prayers. There are a good many scriptures that make this fact abundantly clear. Here is one:
John 16:
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give
it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Here, Christ is explaining to his bewildered disciples that up to this point, they haven't had to pray for anything -- Christ has prayed the Father in their behalf. But soon, he would no longer be with them, and they would have to ask the Father in Christ's name.
To this point, I've only referenced scriptures from the Bible. But the LDS scriptures make it so much plainer to the understanding:
Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men. (D&C 18:18)
and,
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Moroni 10:4)
"Wow! Does God really answer our prayers, I mean, in a real and miraculous way?"
He most assuredly will, if we ask in a real and meaningful way.
Yes, it is true that our prayers, in order to be most effective, must involve the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, along with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ. Without faith that Christ will plead in our behalf, what's the point in even praying in the first place?