Repenting to Allah

Telling Allah about your situation
A mention of the mercy of thy Lord unto His servant Zakhariyyah—when he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret, saying, “My Lord! Lo! The bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining with grey hair, andI have never been unblest in prayer to Thee, my Lord.Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from Thy presence a successor who shall inherit of me and inhereit of the house of Jacob. And make him, my Lord, acceptable (unto Thee).” (Maryam:2-6)
Al-Yaqeen and full awareness (“presence of the heart”)
The Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.) said, “Ask Allah with certainty that He will answer your prayers, and know that Allah will not accept the supplication from an absent heart.” (hasan, at-Tirmidhi)
Asking Allah three times
“If you ask Allah for the jannah three times, the jannah will say, ‘O Allah, make him enter jannah.’ And if you ask Allah to protect you from hellfire three times, hellfire will say, ‘O Allah, protect him from the hellfire.’”
NB. Not every supplication should be performed thrice.
Having patience
Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good. [Isra:11]
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (s.A.w.s.) said, “The person’s supplication will be answered unless he asks for sin or severing the ties of kinship, except if the person is hasty.” Then the Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.) was asked about hastiness. So the Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.) described it as, “The personsays, ‘I asked, and I have not seen the answer.’ Thenhe leaves dua.” (Sahih Muslim)
NB. It is not considered haste in dua to ask for a speedy answer.
Asking with persistence (Al-Ilhah ala Allah)
The Prophet (s.A.w.s.) said, “When you ask Allah, ask with confidence.”
Some of the early Muslims used to say that the suppliant should be like a child when you ask Allah, crying until you are answered.
Asking in secret
An example of this lies in the dua of Zakariyyah,
“A mention of the mercy ofthy Lord unto His servant Zakhariyyah—when he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret.” (19:2)
Benefits of this secrecy include sincerity and beliefin Allah’s attributes (Hearing, Seeing, Closeness).
Mentioning the result you expect from the fulfillment of the du’a
As in the surah,
“(Moses) said: My Lord! Relieve my mind and ease my task for me; and loose a knot from my tongue, that they may understand my saying. Appoint for me a henchman from my folk, Aaron, my brother. Confirmmy strength with him. Andlet him share my task, thatwe may glorify Thee much,and much remember Thee.Lo! Thou art ever Seeing us.” [Ta Ha:29-34]
Omitting details in the actual request
Such as in the ayah,
“Our Lord, give us good in this world, good in the hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the fire.” (2:201)
Aisha narrated that the Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.) used tolike comprehensive supplications, and he would leave others. (Sahih,Abu Dawud)
One of the Sahaba saw his child asking, “O Allah, give me the right palace on the right side of jannah.” So hetold his child, “Do not do that. Rather, ask Allah to enter you into jannah and to protect you from the fire.”
Tahaarah
It is better to have wudu when making dua.
Facing the qiblah
The Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.), when he climbed the Saffa and the Marwa, he would face the qiblah and make du’a.
To ask Allah by His names and attributes
Allah’s are the fairest names. Invoke Him by them. (7:180)
Raising the hands
Salman narrated from the Prophet (s.A.a.w.s.), “Surely Allah is Hayyee, and He loves to conceal the shortcomings of His servants. If His servant raises his hands, He does not let him go empty handed.”
NB. It is inappropriate to raise the hands in certain occasions of dua (i.e. during Friday khutbas) andsunnah upon other occasions (i.e. the dua for rain).
Not consuming Haram
On the authority of Abu Hurairah, The Messenger ofAllah said,
“Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only thatwhich is good. Allah has commanded the faithful todo that which he commanded the messengers, and the Almighty has said: ‘O ye messengers! Eat of the good things and do right.’ And Allah the Almighty hassaid, ‘O ye who believe! Eatof the good things wherewith We have provided you.’”
Then he (s.A.a.w.s.) mentioned [the case of] a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his handsto the sky [saying] : "O Lord! O Lord!" Meanwhile, his (the traveler’s) food is unlawful, his drink unlawful, his clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully; so how can he be answered!
(Related by Muslim)
Thinking well of Allah (Husnu thun bi’llah)
When the wife of Imran said, “My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me,/ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en