How to get my iPhone messages to work?

I was texting my friend on my iPhone 5 and we had an emoji war and I used a lot if them and my phone froze and I turned it off and now when I open my messages nothing shows up and it goes right back to my home screen. I can't view or send messages. What should I do? I already tried holding the power button and the home button down at the same time and turning it off and closing all of my apps.

If you are not jailbroken
I suggest you Restore from iTunes
Don't forget to backup