Definition of "prayer" []

• A reverent petition made to God, a god, or another object of worship. (noun)
• The act of making a reverent petition to God, a god, or another object of worship. (noun)
• An act of communion with God, a god, or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving: One evening a week, the family would join together in prayer. (noun)
• A specially worded form used to address God, a god, or another object of worship. (noun)
• A religious observance in which praying predominates: morning prayers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But prayer, generally considered, embraces all the above-mentioned parts; when, however, we distinguish one part against another, _prayer_, properly speaking, means the uplifting of the mind to God."
• "But we must notice that when we speak of prayer we can mean either prayer _considered in itself_ or the _cause of prayer_."
• "The first is the theory of those who hold that there _is the same relation between prayer and the answer to prayer_ as between _cause and effect in any other sequence of Nature_."