In addition to the traditional prayers that we daven each day, it is vital that we speak to Hashem in our own words.   “This is because the negative forces are well aware of such paths (the prayers in our siddur).

It is very much like a well-known public road.  Since bandits and murderers are aware of this road, they can lurk alongside it, waiting for the unwary.  But if one blazes a new trail, or travels one that is not yet known, then no unfriendly elements can lurk on the way.

Similarly, when a person expresses his own thoughts to God, he is taking a new path and composing a new prayer.  Therefore, he is not nearly as likely to encounter negative forces.  ~ R’ Nachman of Breslov zt”l