Why should we pray? What good does it do?

In the first first place, prayer is a way of increasing our sensitivity to the spiritual aspects of life. From this point of view, it is very much like exercise. ...The soul is stretched and enlarged by prayer just as the body is stretched and expanded by physical exercise.

In the second place, prayer is good because it helps us conquer and control our appetites.

And finally, prayer is a way of aspiration. It is a way of lifting ourselves, of getting a higher look, of transcending self. For when a man looks at life only from inside himself, or only from within the walls of his home, or profession, seeing the world as though it were all in terms of his special interests, then he is 'too full of himself to have any room for God.' But, in prayer, he sees life as God sees it, and relates in his own little life and his own little need to the needs and life of humanity. He lifts himself by prayer and achieves a high spiritual stature.

- Robert I.Kahn (Gratefully excerpted from "Treasury of Courage and Confidence" by Dr.Norman Vincent Peale)