Zeus.. I would agree that your peaceful feelings alone from prayer were were most likely self-justification from cognitive dissonance. Typically, on the rare occasion I ask for guidance or peace, I do get a sense of peace but I also get an insight or an opportunity or a synchronistic event almost immediately with that peace. If I experience what you're describing, I'd probably feel similarly.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
