I believe that the most heartfelt and
true prayer, in every sense of the word, would be the manner in which how all the Prophets (pbut) themselves prayed to their Creator as explained
here.
When a Muslim prays or thanks God he does so in the same fashion that was taught to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all of the previous prophets of Allah. You will find that when a Muslim prays he places his forehead on the ground in total submission to God Almighty. Let us see how the prophets (including Jesus, pbuh) prayed:
Genesis 17:3 “And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,”
Genesis 17:17 “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?”
Exodus 34:8 “And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.”
Numbers 16:20-22 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?”
Joshua 5:14 “And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?”
Ezekiel 9:8 “And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?”
2 Chronicles 20:18 “And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.”
Ezekiel 11:13 “And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
Matthew 17:6 “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.”
Matthew 26:39 “And he (Jesus) went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
And if the Prophets themselves prayed in such a fashion, then this surely means that any other form of prayer would be decidedly of a much lower order.
