Effective prayer is specific and persistent.
I heard someone say recently, “Prayer is not magical. It just has to be persistent.” I like that. It’s too easy to repeat a prayer, especially if you are reading it, and expect “X” to happen. It’s not an incantation. We do not recite prayers to the universe and wait for results.
Prayer is a conversation you have with the Father. He’s more than willing to do what you need Him to, He just expects you to talk to Him about it, not demand, rant, plead, or recite. How rude it would be to have someone pull out a sheet of paper and make an official request to borrow your pen and never look you in the eye.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (Jam 5:16) Effective prayer is specific. Fervent means fiery or impassioned. Consider that you are carrying on a conversation with God and you really want to get your point across. Look Him in the eyes. When you do that, you will be flooded with His love. Your prayer will go straight to His heart and He cannot hold Himself back from answering for you.
Be persistent. Go back to Him everyday with the same level of specific fervency and always give Him eye contact. You are praying to your Father, not an ATM.
Another post on prayer: Specific Prayer Gets Specific Answers