Then he states:
“When any one of you begins to pray, he should stand firmly upon his request and should not say, ‘O God, if you wish accept my prayer,’ because of course, God will only accept it if He truly wills. For God is the Ruler of us all and He is not compelled by anyone. As such, one should not weaken the effect of his prayer or the concentration of his heart by using conditional or lose-ended words.”1
The final part of this instruction by the Holy Prophet(sa) is based on a very critical and sound principle of psychology. It is obvious that a state of attention, concentration and engrossment is necessary in prayer, and this state can only be developed when the supplicant implores after standing firm upon something with determination and belief. However, if the supplicant uses words such as, ‘O God, if you wish accept this prayer,’ in such a case, the necessary state of attention and engrossment will never be developed which is required for the acceptance of prayer. The Holy Prophet(sa) states that in any case, God is not subservient to man, in that whatever he asks for, God grants him without question and does not possess the power of denial. Rather, He is a Ruling God and in accordance to His own wisdoms, possesses the power to accept or reject a prayer. Why then should man permit a state of doubt to enter his heart and waver from that status of determination, concentration and engrossment, which is necessary in producing the magnetism and attraction needed in pleading.
1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābud-Da‘awāt, Bābu Li-Ya‘zimil-Mas’alata Fa-Innahū Lā Mukriha Lahū, Ḥadīth No. 6338