Prayer is one of the highest ranking spiritual tools. That prayer occurs independently across communities in the world underlines the instinctive longing of humans for their maker. This world seeks the outer world. Humans seek refuge when they hurt and lack.
The default value of prayer is connecting with divine remedies for inescapable human limitations. From observation, even the irreligious at some point or other have to plead with other human beings for help – sometimes with pleas so intense they qualify to be described as prayers. When people are narrating stories of their lives they will often describe turning points with a phrase such as “But I had a praying mother…”