how to make dua for something you really want

https://www.islamicity.org/8536/the-proper-way-to-make-dua/

Question: I would like to know the proper way to make du'aa' during prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did it. Is it after the prayer or between the two prostrations or whilst standing or when?

Answer: Praise be to Allah.

First:

Note that there is not one particular part of the prayer when du'aa' should be offered, rather there are several parts of the prayer where the scholars have stated that the Messenger of Allah  offered du'aa', from the opening takbeer to the final tasleem.

It is also Sunnah to make du'aa' after the prayer and there are several du'aa's that we will mention below insh'allah. It should be noted that the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad  and the best of du'aa's are those which are in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet . The wording of the Messenger of Allah  is the best of wording, because he is the most knowledgeable of all people about the Arabic language, and the most eloquent in speech. Allah  enabled him to express the most profound of meanings in few words, which is called conciseness of speech.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Messenger of Allah  say:
"I have been sent with concise speech." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6611; Muslim, 523.

Al-Bukhaari said: I heard that conciseness of speech means when many meanings which it would have taken books to write before are summed up in a phrase or two, and so on.

Based on this, if you want to say du'aa' in your prayers at the points at which it is prescribed and recommended (mustahabb) to say du'aa', the best of du'aa's are those which are said in the wording of the Prophet .

Second:

If you are not able to do that and you cannot memorize these du'aa's and dhikrs, then the best of du'aa' is that which avoids going to extremes in using fanciful language speech, and which avoids using rhyme to the point of absurdity, and which makes the du'aa' sincere and focused on the need in question, saying whatever is easy for you and whatever Allah  enables you to say.

It was narrated that the Prophet  said to a man:

"What do you say when you pray?" He said: "I recite the tashahhud, then I say: Allahumma inni as'aluka al-jannah wa a'oodhu bika min al-naar (O Allah, I ask You for Paradise and seek refuge in You from the Fire). I cannot murmur like you and like Mu'aadh." The Prophet  said: "It is about them that we were murmuring." Narrated by Abu Dawood, 792; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

Third:

With regard to du'aa' after the salaam, what the Prophet  used to do is to say, after finishing the prayer: Astghfir Allah, astaghfir Allah astaghfir Allah (I seek the forgiveness of Allah, I seek the forgiveness of Allah, I seek the forgiveness of Allah). Then he would say all the dhikrs that are narrated at this time.

Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no saheeh report to say that the Prophet  used to raise his hands following an obligatory prayer, or that his companions (may Allah have mercy on them) did that, as far as we know. What some people do, raising their hands after the prayer, is a bid'aah (innovation) for which there is no basis . Al-Fataawa, 1/74.

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

With regard to du'aa' after the prayer facing the qiblah or facing the congregation, this is not something that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did at all. It is not narrated with a saheeh or hasan isnaad. As for doing that only after Fajr and 'Asr prayers, he did not do that and neither did any of his successors (khulafa'), and he did not teach his ummah to do that. Rather this is something that some people thought it was good to do to make up for not offering Sunnah prayers after those prayers. And Allah knows best.

The Prophet  offered most of the du'aa's that are connected to the prayer during the prayer, and he commanded us to offer them during it. This befits the state of the one who is praying, for he is facing his Lord and conversing with Him so long as he is praying. When he says the salaam that conversation comes to a close and he is no longer standing before Him and close to Him. So why should he not ask of Him whilst he is conversing with Him and close to Him and turning to Him, and then ask of Him when he has turned away from Him? Undoubtedly it is better to do the opposite. There is another subtle point to be made, which is that when the worshipper has finished praying, and he has remembered Allah and proclaimed His oneness, glorified Him, praised Him and magnified Him by reciting the dhikrs that are prescribed following the prayer, it is mustahabb to send blessings upon the Prophet  after that, and to make du'aa' as he wishes, His du'aa' should come immediately after this second act of worship, not because it is after the prayer but because it is mustahabb for anyone who remembers Allah  and praises Him and sends blessings upon the Messenger of Allah  to make du'aa' after that, as it says in the hadeeth of Faddaalah ibn 'Ubayd:
"When any one of you prays, let him start by praising Allah, then let him send blessings upon the Prophet , then let him say du'aa' however he wishes."

Al-Tirmidhi said: (it is) a saheeh hadeeth. It was also classed as saheeh by al-Haakim, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Zaad al-Ma'aad, 1/257, 258.

Fourth:

With regard to the points during the prayer at which du'aa' should be offered, we will sum this up for you as follows:

There are many du'aa's which may be recited during the prayer, but we cannot quote all of them in this answer. We have referred to a few of those that have been narrated. Our advice to the questioner - and to every Muslim - is to have a copy of al-Adhkaar by al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), which is a lengthy book. If he would like to have something shorter then he should get a copy of al-Kalim al-Tayyib by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, edited by al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on them all).

And Allah knows best.

Number one criteria for a dua to be accepted is sincerity usually we buy a book of dua and we have no idea what this dua's book says we just open up and flip the pages and we read dua for this dua for that we don't understand Arabic we have no clue so we just repeat like parrots thinking that Allah SWT will give us what we want the number one criteria for a dua to be accepted is sincerity and when we don't know what the dua or prayer says how can we be sincere so we have two options either we understand the Arabic phrase which is written in front of you and which is Right Way Of Making Dua in your language for what you want Allah SWT understands all languages and dua is not salaat like we must recite salaat in Arabic if we recited in other language its not Salaat but dua does not have to be in Arabic dua can be in any language and if you don't understand the Arabic phrase then make dua and pray in your language because when you make dua and pray in your language with your vocabulary you will show that sincerity that will not come otherwise whether its french Spanish Hindi Urdu English etc you raise your hand to Allah and ask him from the depth of your heart from the bottom of your soul you ask Allah because you are doing the asking not some book which you don't understand.

Ibn Al-Qayyim said he who fulfills the following conditions should know that Allah will surely answer his dua:

Have certainty that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala will answer your dua The Prophet (PBUH) said, �Ask Allah with certainty that He will answer your prayers.� (Tirmidhi)

Show submissiveness and devotion during your dua. The Prophet (PBUH) said, �Know that Allah will not accept the supplication from an absent heart.� (Tirmidhi)

Be patient and do not hasten for an answer. The Prophet (PBUH) said: �The dua or prayer of any worshiper will continue to be responded to, as long as� he is not hasty� i.e. as long as he doesn�t lose patience.

Continue to gain a lawful means of living. The Prophet (PBUH) narrated a story about a man asking Allah, saying �O Lord! O Lord!� but his food was unlawful, his drink was unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he was nourished unlawfully; so how can he be answered?!� (Muslim)
Allah does not place a burden on us greater than we can bear. If the answer to your dua has been delayed, it�s because Allah KNOWS you can handle it. He tests those whom He loves, so keep asking and remember that Allah makes with hardship ease. And remember, as with tawakkul, we need to exert effort as well.

Of the etiquettes we learn from the story of Adam A.S halal sustinents have affect on dua and also haram sustinents have effects on dua what happen when Adam AS ate haram immediately Allah blessing went away and he had to repent immediately the clothes Adam AS was wearing disappeared because he ate haram the rizq was haram at that time and he had to repent to gain Allah's blessing again and this shows us when we care about our sustinents and money when we care about halal rizq then our dua goes up and when we don't care from were our money comes from when we take bribes when we cheat when we steal we don't care how our money comes from it will have negative effect on our dua and fear Allah when it comes to our source of income because your source of income has s profound impact on Allah's blessing and our dua being answered the more pure your sustinents the higher chances of dua being answered

The etiquette of dua is to beseech Allah and to cry out to him and we notice this desperation that we need Allah we need him more then we need anything else and when we see the dua of Adam

(رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ)

"Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.�

what it says is if you don't forgive oh Allah if you Don't have mercy we have no hope we are lost there is nothing we can do and even when Musaa A.S was lost in the valley he was running away from feron this is before he became Prophet before the wahi came down he doesn't have a single dime a single penny he doesn't have anything except the clothes he is wearing he doesn't have single meal to eat and he calls out to Allah

Rabbi 'inni limaa 'anzalta 'ilayya min khairin-faqeer

O my Lord! I am indeed needy of whatever good You may send to me [Surah Qassas; 28:24]

Rab I'm faqeer i'm a beggar i have no choice i need you oh Allah please give me what i need this depressions the sign of iklas and sincerity we invoke Allah because we need Allah and we need Allah because there is no RAB besides Allah so when we call out to Allah like this he sees that iman he sees that tawakul and that is why our duas would be responded when we call out in that manner that benefits

We learn from this incident we call out to Allah using his names and attributes, iblees when he made dua oh Allah give me life till the day of judgment but when Adam made dua he said Rabana notice the difference iblees is demanding Adam is requesting and is saying o my lord Rabana and Allah says in the quran To Allah belongs all beautiful names so make dua using those names ask by using Allah's name and attributes, you will find some of the name relevant to that dua if you want forgiveness think of Allah's name for forgiveness Ya Rehman Ya Rahim Ya Ghafoor Ya Tawab if you want something of sustenance ya Razzakh Ya Kareem Ya Manan if your want a child Ya Wahab what ever you want from Allah you will find a name of Allah that is perfect for your request so that is why we study the names of Allah so we ask Allah using his names and attributes Rabana is the most common name in dua why because you are showing Allah you are my RAB rab means lord it means master it means sustainer when u say Rabana you are saying oh Allah you will take care of me no one else so when we make dua we use all Allah's name this is etiquette's of dua.

Of the etiquette's of dua we acknowledge our sins when we make dua we must always feel embarrassed to raise our hands to Allah why who am i to ask Allah when I'm so sinful what right do i have to expect anything from Allah think we have disobeyed Allah morning and evening and here i still raise my hands and Allah will still give me should not i be ashamed of my sins think of this because this is the sign of sincerity this is the sing of faith just like Adam A.S how did he began the dua oh Allah i have wronged my self i don't deserve asking you but i still need to because i don't have any other hope look at that attitude and that attitude is iman. look how often we have sinned and still we have that audacity to ask all we need to realize our sins impediment between us and that dua so the first thing we do oh Allah i know I'm sinful oh Allah i have sinned a lot i know oh Allah forgive me those sins and give me what i need Allah i know I'm not worthy of all this you have given me but only you can give and only you are the giver so please give me what i need this is the most important etiquette of dua that's why prophet pbuh said that the most blessed dua of repentance a man to acknowledge his sins to say oh Allah I'm your servant Allah i have committed sins against you and i know those sins please forgive me so acknowledging that you don't deserve that but u still need it this is the essence of iman and faith.

We can conclude by mentioning that dua is the heart of worship it is the foundation it is the relationship between you and Allah that is why every single human being even the atheist makes dua once a time when the atheist gonna face death when the atheist is in difficult situation what does he says oh god save me he doesn't even believe in God but he needs to make dua to God just like iblees he refuse to obey Allah but he still make a dua to Allah. dua is the basic element of being human the Muslim directs that dua to Allah alone continuously frequently always making dua for all of the needs of day and night Aisha RA said even if your shoe lace breaks make dua to Allah to replace it because unless Allah will it to replace if not it will never be replaced you ask Allah everything because you need Allah for everything and the sign of iman is to know momin is asking and asking and he is never tired of him asking. humans more you ask the more he despises you Allah more you ask more he loves you this is the reality of our faith the more you turn to Allah swt the more you acknowledge that Allah swt is our lord Muslims realize that our honor lies in humbling ourselves before Al AZIZ the one full of honor and our strength and power comes from admitting our total helplessness and dependence upon Al Qavi Al Qadeer Ql Aziz and know the strongest way of communication between us and lord is the way of dua. Dua is the strongest weapon Allah swt says in the Quran

When my servants ask you about me tell them I'm close to them I'm the one who responds to the dua of anyone who does the dua.

May Allah swt make us among those who truly worship him in day and in night in perseverance and in hardship in ease and comfort.