A QUESTION: During a Masters of Education research project that compared the findings of two of the most important research projects into the nature of personal greatness - which sought to identify the key practices in the lives of the happiest, healthiest and highest achievers in history - one habit towered above all others, prayer. Yet according to Brandeis University, up to 90% of Americans pray and more than 50% pray daily. There's similar figures all around the world. There's actually no shortage of prayer; but there's a vast and distinct shortage of results. What makes the difference? A CALLING: This question began to intrigue. If prayer is the greatest habit for living our best life - and the research overwhelmingly pointed that it is so - why is it that most that pray, live a life far below their real potential? True to the form of the research findings, much prayer was applied as looking over the studies, and a dangerous calling emerged: "Go into the wilderness for 40 days. Contemplate the principles of effective prayer and they shall be revealed. " A QUEST: For 40 days on the remote island of Tasmania - in total isolation, solitude and silence - nothing was done but to think about these principles. Stepping back from the mountain of researched ideas - the question of what makes prayer effective became a positive obsession, a subject of constant contemplation. The principles were distilled and set up into a logical and learnable system. A PRACTICE: Returning back home, one more question still remained. That's all fine and good in theory, but what about in practice? Can these principles be learned and can they affect real changes? So with a select group of practitioners, the ideas were put into action. There results were outstanding. Here are the 7 most important principles.