Many people ask the question: “What is prayer?” or “How do you pray?”
When I was growing up praying seemed to be governed by rules and rituals. There were specific prayers that you were supposed to memorize and we were supposed to say certain prayers at certain times. I don’t think I ever really knew what some of those prayers were saying – but you said them anyway.
To me praying seemed to be very impersonal. I prayed because I was told that is what I was supposed to do. I never felt like I was really talking to God – especially about me. I never felt I was getting anything out of praying other than the fact that I was “doing my duty”. And so, after a while, I stopped praying.