Prayer is a relationship, an expression of my love for God. With rote, pre-written or spontaneous prayer, what matters most is what is happening in the heart.
Catholic.com says, “What’s important in prayer is that the heart is seeking God out of love for him … God’s message to humanity has always been [that] he is not a ‘power’ to be controlled, but a father to be loved. God does not need our affirmation, he desires our worship, because he knows that we need him for us to be fully human and happy.”