Prayer is the exchange (sharing) of the Song of Love and Creation or judgments of the ego based on what you are asking for (agreeing with) in your mind. There is no other way. In the Course, the mind (content) is divided between God and ego; and all the time you choose the side as the reason for the effect.

Forms (all things of this world) are flawed creatures reflecting the judgmental thought system of the ego. We made it up (wrongly created this world) and A Course In Miracles can give it up at any time by correcting the mind (forgiveness). True prayer requires this correction of the mind, for God has nothing to do with forms.

What prayer is not:

Since you always make choices, what you ask for when you pray matters. When you pray for God to solve a problem of form with another problem of form, you are asking the ego mind (not God) for help. These forms and needs are considered more important than God's Love, which remains hidden to the extent you choose illusion.

All external things (forms) are needs. Other labels are wishes, desires, condition, problems, sickness, human love (special relationships), gifts and goals in this world, etc. They are what you choose as substitutes for God's Love, and the ego will distort the purpose of prayer by using them to support an illusion. So prayer cannot be about "forms" or "needs" in any way.

Purpose of prayer:

The Song of Prayer is defined by the Course as a Song of Creation, Love and Gratitude, sung from the Father to the Son and returned from the Son to the Father. God gave this gift of Love to His Son at creation, so it is a single voice shared by Creator and Created. The constant sharing of Love and Creation back and forth extends them forever into eternity. That is the purpose of prayer.

In this form world of illusion, this prayer is still a gift from God offered through the Holy Spirit, a remembrance of God in the mind. Thus you reach God in illusion. Anyone who has ever remembered even the tiniest moment of this all-encompassing joy must begin to question what they have chosen (pray for it) and how to change their minds so that they can have it all the time.