Through intimacy with God one grows in intimacy with self and intimacy with life. This journey inward is a movement of integration and wholeness. It implies a kind of psychological growth with which a person deals with the hidden aspects of the psyche which block the normal maturing processes of adult life. For the person of faith and prayer this journey hopefully is a movement towards holiness. Prayer does not always lead to or help psychological growth.
Fanatical people pray.
Evil people pray. Neurotic people pray. Closed people pray. Some persons who have prayed for years remain rigid. Other persons of prayer are blind to their selfishness and greed.