>>45093
I'm not sure how practicing Christians think of it, but I think praying is a way of turning to God, opening up to God and via this to our mind to observe us, sorting out ourselves, our feelings, our deeds, checking our conscience, it is also a quietening, concentration, or the lack of it, sorta mediation. It can be one or a mix of the above.
Asking for stuff - when asked, it isn't a mandatory part - can be a tool of focusing thought - and I think it was used as such frequently in the past, usually by the "professionals", or as a part of penitence.
Also quite a few forms of prayers, depending on occasion or place.