As he silently approached the last float, a latticework ball of reeds, he offered an unspoken prayer to He Who Always Steps on Sand that even now the little bottom-walkers were pushing and shoving their way into the cage below. Because of his unusual education, which included a year living on Perdruin—unheard of for a Wrannaman—Tiamak did not really believe in He Who Always Steps on Sand anymore, but he still held a fondness for him, such as might be felt for a senile grandfather who often tumbled down from the house, but once brought nuts and carved toys. Besides, it never hurt to pray, even if one did not believe in the object of prayer. It helped to compose the mind, and, at the very least, it impressed others.

In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I would pretend to close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended.

I had come to the time in my life when prayer became necessary and so I invented gods and prayed to them,

I sped a prayer heavenward. God needs to be reminded.

Speaking the words he had been taught, directing them no longer upward but to the earth on which he knelt, he prayed: 'For what we are about to receive make us truly thankful.' ... he... felt his heart suddenly flow over with thankfulness... like a gush of warm water... All that remains is to live here quietly for the rest of my life, eating food that my own labour has made the earth to yield. All that remains is to be a tender of the soil.

What is it?”
“A prayer.”
“For a child?”
She nodded.
“For me?”
Another nod.
“On a tree?”
“Trees spend all day looking up at God.

Kanu closed his eyes, opened them again, hoping that the world would have done the decent thing and changed into a less problematic version of itself.

Rabbi Akiba said: Israel must not be like the pagans, thanking their wooden gods when good happens and cursing them when evil comes. When good comes, the Jews thank God, and when evil comes, they thank Him too.

There is no particular way to worship Kami. Just be sincere, conscientious, honest, and sincerely single-hearted.
Give thanks for being able to live from day to day and apologize for the irreverence, carelessness, and arrogance that you commit unknowingly. Then with sincerity, tell any personal requests that you may have to Kami.

Children are the keys of Paradise. … They alone are good and wise,
Because their thoughts, their very lives, are prayer.

If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.

Empty words and long praises do not impress God. Show Him your faith by your deeds.

Pray but one prayer for me 'twixt thy closed lips, Think but one thought of me up in the stars.

I pray for my children, for their success and not even just material success, success as human beings so that they may be solid, because in our world today somebody has to have the qualities and the skills to live a successful life. I also continue to pray for success in this job, to make a difference in the energy sector.