What is Prayer?

Believe it or not, this is a mysterious subject. It seems that it would be simple but if you ask someone to do it they might appear dazed and confused. Praying is one thing but understanding what it is is another. I have had conversations with pagans and their type on the Internet and they usually try to convince me that prayer and magic are the same thing. Not at all. In magic one tries to control his environment. Prayer is not magic in any way. It is asking God to help you. You ask God. He answers. The end. So you might be wondering why it doesn't seem that God answers prayers the way I just explained. It's because of the answer. Some people say that God always answers prayers but the answer is sometimes no. That's close to what I think but I have a much better answer. First of all, I must point out that I seldom pray for myself. I pray for others. I think that's what God wants. I don't think He likes ego trips where you "claim" something and it's yours. He wants us to pray for each other. Where two or three are gathered, there will He be in the midst of them. As for the answer to the prayer, I don't think it's ever No. There are many paths we can take at any given moment. When I pray for myself or for anyone else, I expect God to choose the best path. It isn't apparent to us that God has actually done anything but we have been influenced to make a more fitting choice. I don't think we should ever demand anything from God or ask Him to prove Himself. Then there are the other answers. People doubt that He can heal sickness. That's strange to me since He created us in the first place. It seems to me that He can do anything He wants in the universe He created. He speaks the word and it happens. Just like that. But mostly I think He just helps us by choosing our paths. And if He wants to heal someone He just does it.