God's encouragement to pray

Below are several verses in which the Lord gives us encouragement to pray to Him. So, if you are discouraged about your pray life or the prays you have prayed just meditate on these scriptures and find everlasting comfort in them and in God's promises!

Psalms 50:14 (GNB)
(14) Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God, and give the Almighty all that you promised.

Philippians 4:6-7 (GNB)
(6) Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.
(7) And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

James 5:13-18 (GNB)
(13) Are any among you in trouble? They should pray. Are any among you happy? They should sing praises.
(14) Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord.
(15) This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven.
(16) So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.
(17) Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years.
(18) Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.

In these scriptures of Matthew & John, we are actually reading the exact words of Jesus Christ describing to us the promises of prayer.

Matthew 7:7-8 (GNB)
(7) "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
(8) For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock.

John 14:13-14 (GNB)
(13) And I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father's glory will be shown through the Son.
(14) If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.