For many, when they think of prayer, they think of God as a genie granting wishes. There are many who would even argue that if our prayer is not answered, it is because we did not have enough faith.
The Gospel lesson for this week says different. John 15:7 states, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
Our prayers being answered isn't contingent on our belief they will be answered, but on how closely our will is tied to God's.
In other words, for what we ask to be granted, we need to first ask for God's will to be done. We are called not to look at prayer as a genie granting wishes, but as a conversation that will lead us to be closer to God. Our hope is that eventually our will might be so knit with God's that they are one and the same.
Mark 10:27 states: "for God all things are possible." For that to be true for us, we must first abide in God and ask for His will in all things.