The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:1-5.
John tells us that this was the first miracle Jesus performed. He explained it this way-
Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After the wedding he went to Capernaum for a few days with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. John 2:6-12.

Mary responded to a situation as any one us would do I suppose, telling Jesus about the problem, but why did she say this? He had not yet performed any miracle. There was no evidence yet of the fulfillment of the prophecies she had heard and received, keeping them in her heart, wondering about this man she had carried inside her since the angel spoke those many years ago.

He grew up as any boy in the village; was schooled; was circumcised; had his Bar Mitzvah at age twelve and seemed to drop off the face of the planet for eighteen years by human understanding before John the Baptist arrived on the scene. Now He is invited to a wedding and a problem emerges. His mother approached Him with the need and He said that it was not His problem. His reply indicated that He was apparently trying to ignore it, but Mary must have known inside her that His heart was yearning to swing into action and start His ministry. Sometimes people may need a cause, or need encouragement, or need a push to start, but once the inertia is overcome… it is all systems go! Was He waiting for this? He had already been baptized by John in water and had received the Holy Spirit, so He was ready, but apparently had not yet started in earnest. Did He first need someone to ask Him for help? Perhaps! You see, God already knows all about everything you are going through before you pray, but you must still pray! God is more willing to give than we are to receive, but He still often requires us to ask. We are talking about prayer here.

Prayer is vital for your success in any endeavor. It links you with God. It establishes a relationship with the Almighty that allows us to come into the throne-room with absolute trust, confidence and boldness, because the veil that separated us is removed. That middle wall of partition of which the bible speaks was rent from top to bottom the day Jesus died and it has never been repaired! If your sins are forgiven and you are a blood washed, redeemed, sanctified saint of God, you have both the privilege and the right to boldly come to the throne of grace with your petitions and prayer requests. Prayer is not dependent on false humility which is actually a form of pride. It has nothing to do with posture, such as bowing because even the heathen bow to their gods. In like manner, it has nothing to do with laying on your face before God or any other outward expression, because God looks past the veneers into the heart! If your heart is right with God, you can pray at any time and in any manner because of the relationship you enjoy with each other. Prayer is not presenting a shopping list, or applying some ritualistic formula, but sharing from the heart what you desire, with an attitude of gratitude and worship, knowing that before you say one word God hears you. Isaiah says- Before they call, I will answer. While they're still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24. If we know that God hears us, we are assured in scripture that He will answer, so we can pray with absolute confidence that our prayers are powerful and effective. See 1 John 3:20-24; 1 John 5:13-15; 3 John 2; James 1:6-8; James 5:17.

I mentioned saints just a while ago. Some people believe that saints are special people who must be proved in some manner and then proclaimed to be saints by the church hierarchy, but the word of God never teaches us this! God calls you and me a saint. Those who are the redeemed—the born again followers of Jesus are saints. The word Saint or ἅγιος appears forty times in the New Testament. The translation is Hagios and it talks about holiness, moral and religious purity and the like.
When Jesus took His precious blood into the Holy of Holies according to the book of Hebrews, particularly chapter nine, we were declared then to be the righteousness of God! We do not need, nor should we seek after man’s approval or authorization in that sense because God has proclaimed us to be accepted in the beloved!
Never pray to a saint! That is idolatry. It is not scriptural. There is but one way to have access to the Father, to whom we pray, and that is through Jesus. See John 6:35, 68; John 10:9; Acts 4:12; Romans 6:63, 10:9; Ephesians 2:8.

Regarding prayer, we can look at prayer from several aspects, each of which may have merit, but I want to know how to pray in such a way that God hears me, because if He hears me, the answer comes. God does not always hear all prayers you know, because just about every human being calls out in some way or another to a supreme being for various reasons but if one is not in divine covenant relationship, their words fall to the ground unheeded. Religious prayers are not heard. Silent prayers are not really prayers at all. I could continue with more illustrations, including posture as I have just mentioned. Do we kneel, sit, or stand, or lay prostrate on our faces or walk around? Do we have to hold our hands together, use beads or prayer wheels or other props as religious folk advocate? We can lift holy hands to the Lord, but in all reality, does it really matter?

The important thing to know is that God has to hear what we say for prayer to be answered and so we have to say the right things to Him.
Effective prayer comes from the heart. The length or duration, eloquence or otherwise matter not really, because it is the prayer of faith that God seeks. Peter was walking on the water to Jesus when he took his eyes off the Master and placed his focus on the circumstances and started to sink. He cried out a quick, Lord, save me and Jesus immediately answered him. That was a very hasty three-word cry and got the answer. There was no time for opening a prayer book to find the appropriate words. There was not time to confess any sins, or do any penance (which is not how God operates). It was happening too fast for Peter to adopt a prayer pose. He was going down in the dark. If you look at the incident, you will see that Jesus immediately extended His hand to Peter, which means that He was really close, not a distant million miles away from us as some people think. God is as close to you as your own breath and always more than ready and very able to answer. How therefore are we to go about prayer and be effective?

Look again at Mary, the mother of Jesus. She came to Jesus with a need. Always present your need to God through Jesus. There is no other way! Jesus said so when He told us how to go about praying this way-
And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you. “Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again. Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! “Pray along these lines: ‘Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name. We ask that your kingdom will come now. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. Give us our food again today, as usual, and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. Amen. Matthew 6:5-13.

This is the basis for all prayer and I said basis! It is His pattern for us to follow, so do not mimic it and repetitively say this as if it were the lyrics of a song. You’re wasting your time and effort to satisfy mans religious requirements, but not necessarily pleasing God.
When we pray, Jesus said that we pray to the Father… full stop!
Mary came to Jesus, presenting a need and then said something profound.

This is now getting to the real core of the message.
She said, Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.

If you want to know how to pray, then pray like Mary. Oh, yes… she prayed. I know this because the bible says she did. She prayed, following her own advice to those servants. She was obedient to Jesus. She knew that He was the one who had all the answers and was able to do anything. She never told them to pray to a saint or to Joseph, for that is idolatry, but instructed everyone to do whatever Jesus said to do. 
Dear friend who loves God: In my first letter I told you about Jesus’ life and teachings and how he returned to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after his crucifixion he appeared to the apostles from time to time, actually alive, and proved to them in many ways that it was really he himself they were seeing. And on these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. In one of these meetings he told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them in fulfillment of the Father’s promise, a matter he had previously discussed with them. “John baptized you with water,” he reminded them, “but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.” Acts 1:1-5.
Mary was present in the prayer meeting described as follows.
It was not long afterwards that he rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving them staring after him. As they were straining their eyes for another glimpse, suddenly two white-robed men were standing there among them, and said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as he went, he will return!”
They were at the Mount of Olives when this happened, so now they walked the half mile back to Jerusalem and held a prayer meeting in an upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here is the list of those who were present at the meeting: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (also called “The Zealot”), Judas (son of James), and the brothers of Jesus. Several women, including Jesus’ mother, were also there. This prayer meeting went on for several days. During this time, on a day when about 120 people were present, Peter stood up and addressed them. Acts 1:9-15.
Mary was being obedient to the command of her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! If you want to know how to pray, then follow her example!
Seven weeks later, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and filled every one who was there and every one of them spoke in other tongues. Was Mary there? I believe so because the bible says in Acts 1:14 that they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers.
Did she pray in tongues? Yes. She must have, because the bible says that Everyone did... they All prayed and they All received!
Pray like Mary folks and you will have a radical change in your prayer life.
Please see the companion pages The Power of Prayer  Breaking the Sound Barrier  Working Out At Your Spiritual Gym  The Holy Spirit and His Gifts