I've seen people on their knees, their heads buried in their hands, trying to connect with a God who can intervene in their lives. I've seen people praying with their hands extended in the air, their eyes closed, their mouths spouting a strange language. I've seen Muslim men kneeling on a prayer rug, bowing low to a God who asks for their discipline and devotion. I've seen Jews in prayer shawls and yarmulkes, bowing over and over to a God of love and faithfulness. I've seen Hindus praying to brightly colored replications of their many gods.
Prayer is the one thing all religious people share.
In First Thessalonians, the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. I think that means we should always be spiritually alert, morally fit and able to call upon our God for help. In the 1960s, when I was in seminary studying theology, many of my classmates worked at praying without ceasing. And because they felt adept at this constant prayer, they stopped the organized ritual of getting on their knees, folding their hands, closing their eyes and getting into the presence of God. Many of them said that was their fatal mistake.