Is there a single thing that prayer is meant to be?

Many among the devout would find this an odd question, because for them the issue is self-evident. Prayer is a way to talk to the Gods.

The image is quite basic, like a telephone call. Whether the Gods answer is exactly the same as whether the person you have dialled picks up the phone. The only mystery -- and it's a huge one -- is how to judge when the Gods answer and when they don't. Are they angry or indifferent? Are they sufficiently pleased with your behaviour in general?

The human race has entangled itself fruitlessly in these mysteries for centuries, so it would be helpful to somehow get them out of the way by giving prayer a new meaning, one that doesn't depend on the fickleness of an invisible being living above the clouds.

Why not consider prayer to be an action in consciousness? Everything about prayer happens in consciousness and nowhere else. The message is sent and received in consciousness; the results are noticed in consciousness; one's expectations, beliefs, and intentions are rooted in consciousness.  Stripped of religious vocabulary, a prayer is nothing more than an intention. Either that intention comes true or it doesn't.Once we put the issue on this basis,

we can talk more rationally about how intentions come true. Does consciousness have the power to make dreams come true, to rescue people by bringing unexpected solutions, to heal illness, inspire faith, and surmount crises? A massive amount of evidence from the world's wisdom traditions says that a heartfelt intention arising in awareness possesses all these powers.