( ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً ) (Call upon your Lord in humility and privately): Allah (swt) clarifies to human beings the value, the way, and manner of supplication. To supplicate is to be humble along with confessing your own incapabilities. It is to call to mind your incapabilities and Allah’s Power when asking Him (swt) for support.  Only then the supplication will be far from being an ostentatious act. Allah (swt) says: (Call upon your Lord) in seeking Allah (swt), (in humility): with submissiveness and humility for this may it lead to acceptance of our supplication. (and privately): Means in secrecy. In the Holy Quran, it says that Zakariya (peace be Upon him) invoked Allah (swt) privately, saying:

 قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا وَلَمْ أَكُن بِدُعَائِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا

(He said, “My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has filled with white, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy.) (Maryam: 4)

Allah (swt) hears what is said in secrecy and beyond. There are manners to be followed when we want to invoke Allah (swt); among which is to be no transgression in the request itself, nor in the person who requests. The manner of making that request should be in low voice, without harming anyone, or without making others aware of our requests from Allah (swt). This makes the supplication more likely to be answered by Allah (swt).

(إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ) (indeed, He does not like transgressors): Transgression is either in the manner of the request, or with what is being requested, such as requesting for something unlawful or for something that is not good for us. Allah (swt) knows the hidden, what is good and what is bad for us. This is why Allah (swt) says:

 وَيَدْعُ الْإِنسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ ۖ وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا 

(And man supplicates for evil as he supplicates for good, and man is ever hasty.) (Al-Israa: 11)

Human beings are always hasty when waiting things to happen, while in fact, they could be unknowingly asking for something bad to befall upon them when they think it is good.