What do you think prayer is?

[vulcanlogician]

Praying is not meditating.

Granted, prayer isn't meditating. But it is similar in some regards... one may say it's meditation-like, or perhaps quasi-meditation. I think Khemikal had a good point that it is a real act with real effects on real minds. Like smoking some pot and hoeing a garden PLUS the intention of using those activities to clear the mind may be of value, so too may the act of prayer itself.

There are a lot of exaggerated claims attached to prayer--no doubt about that. The most obvious being the presumed ability of a prayer to change outcomes of things in the material world. Also, as you note--herd bonding is a major driving principle behind public prayer. The OP was more about private prayer.

The reason it seemed like something worth discussing is that we nonbelievers tend to dismiss prayer because of the erroneous beliefs attached to it. In the process of doing this, we might miss that there is genuine benefit to the practice, regardless of the fact that it is sold with a package of unsubstantiated claims.