And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. – 1 John 5:15
I was awakened at about four o’clock this morning by a sharp shrill sound. I thought it was a swallow screaming by the window, and I fell asleep again. A young bird had found its way into my room, and was crying for liberty. I left my bed and opened the window to let the captive free. It did not seem to know its way, and so I caught it and gently placed it at the window, and in a moment it flew to the oak tree close by and sat itself down. I watched its movement. The moment it had perched itself comfortably it began to utter sharp cries, and it turned its little head round on all sides as if looking for some one. It was crying for its mother, and why? Because it expected to be fed. And why did it expect to be fed? Because it had been fed before. If it had been a full-grown bird, it would not have called for food, but would have helped itself; but this poor little creature had been nourished by its parents, and it was looking round to be supplied again. This is why we pray.
O Lord, thou hast supplied our wants so long and so often in answer to prayer, that we are in the way of it; and now we pray, not only because we ought to do so, but because it has become natural to us to pray, and we expect Thee to hear us. When Thou dost hear us we bless Thee, but we are not surprised, as though it were a strange thing. Thy truth causes great admiration but no astonishment, for it is like Thee to keep thy word, We are poor dependent children, and Thou a wise and tender Father; Thou has never left us and Thou wilt never leave us, and so we continue instant in prayer, because we are expectant of Thy grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm