I think I've worked out how to get prayers answered. There are two criteria that must be met for every prayer.

First, and most importantly, you have to truly believe in the Higher Power you are sending the request to.

Second, it has to be minor and won't affect anyone else.

If you read the pages about my answered prayers you will see that both prayers were for very minor things and my beliefs are strong in my Higher Powers.

My prayers for bigger things that affect others haven't been answered in the way or time frame I had prayed for. I don't mind praying for others and if there are enough prayers about it then the multiple prayers might be answered.

However, if it's for something bigger or would affect someone else then I don't think the prayer will be answered. For example, when I pray for someone to be returned to health, the answered prayer would affect not only the ill person but their friends and family as well as the health professionals looking after the ill person too so the prayer may be answered in part (the ill person has a few good days for example) but because it affects others, it may not be answered in full.

Maybe be more specific in your request, so instead of praying for full health for the ill person, maybe pray that they will be well enough to meet up with their friend on Saturday or get the health equipment they need or something like that? Be specific and small then leave it up to your Higher Power?

Think of it as if your Higher Power was standing next to you as you prayed for their help. If the prayer can be answered with just an "OK" or "done" then it will probably be granted, but if it takes a wave of the hand or your Higher Power has to do something more than that or it affects others then it's less likely to be answered.

The same with "cure the world" prayers. They would affect others and they are huge requests so your Higher Power might be saying to you "thank you for the prayer but this person/country/thing has something to learn from their current position" and not answer it in the way you expect.

I'm not saying don't pray... far from it! Just re-phrase the request so that it only affects you!

Think of when Mother Theresa was alive... she probably didn't pray for big things like world peace or the end of global warming or the end of famine or anything like that, she might have just prayed to her God to help her to help others or be quietly confident about His power or something like that... something personal to her that would maybe encourage others to believe too? She probably had a lesson to learn the same as everyone else and she lived her life in the knowledge that her God would guide her to learn that lesson.

Do you have that much faith in your Higher Power?

I do.