Thank you for writing this piece! You’re analysis of the common view of prayer is spot on, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve come to the same conclusions. It really doesn’t make any sense to me either.

I don’t normally self-promote my writing in my responses, but this article I wrote is appropriate for the topic at hand and is my current view of what I think appropriate “prayer” is.

https://mwthayer.medium.com/a-life-of-prayer-e94ec1cf9c18

TLDR; I don’t pray anymore in the traditional sense. Instead I try to live my prayers. If anyone is interested in chatting more, I’ll be over here trying to build my ant hill.