Sentence:  She was forty-nine at this time , a lanky woman of breeding with an austere , narrow face which had the distinction of a steeple or some architecture that had been designed long ago for a stubborn sort of <WSD>prayer</WSD> . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)