Daily prayer is an important part of my life. The rich expression of my faith in God is found in the ways and words I pray.

I am not alone.

Americans, too, like to pray, according to a survey by U.S. News and Beliefnet. The poll shows that among those describing themselves as Christians, 68 percent pray more than once a week, Jews 37 percent, and Muslims 92 percent. Among those praying daily, Jews top the list at 22 percent, Christians 16 percent and Muslims 3 percent.

When it comes to what is actually spoken in prayer, all three monotheistic faiths agree that seeking God’s guidance and giving thanks are expressed the most. Praying for forgiveness is next (Muslims 92 percent, Christians 76 percent, Jews 42 percent). At the bottom are prayers for personal intentions and self-help.

According to the poll, the driving purpose behind prayer for American Christians is to experience intimacy with God (42 percent). For American Muslims it is to seek God’s guidance (42 percent), and for American Jews it is equally divided between intimacy with God (27 percent), seeking God’s guidance (26 percent) and giving thanks (28 percent).

Not surprisingly, Americans pray the least at work (Christians 4 percent, Jews 1 percent, Muslims 1 percent). Their houses of worship rank low as well (Christians 4 percent, Jews 14 percent, Muslims 7 percent). As it should be, the dominant place of prayer is our homes (Christians 80 percent, Jews 76 percent, Muslims 89 percent).

Prayer for me is not so much a lifestyle as a life-shaper. Like Bible study, it becomes an expression of intimate worship of God to bend my will toward God’s will and rule.

Through prayer I express trust in God to see his ways and will demonstrated in our world as in heaven. It’s about Him and others. It demonstrates a positive outlook about the future with the hope to persevere and overcome. Very little I pray concerns life improvement beyond confession of sin, thanksgiving, and asking for guidance and wisdom. According to the poll, this holds true to the way Americans pray in general.

Our word “prayer” is derived from the Old French word “prier” which means “to entreat” or “beg.” Yet this fails to adequately define Biblical prayer.

The best understanding comes from the main root word for prayer in the Hebrew Bible — “palal.” While also meaning to appeal for intervention, it bears the additional weight of one standing in God’s presence in self-judgment. We stand to judge ourselves in his presence. Hence, life-shaping becomes a significant aspect of praying. It demands self-assessment and, when finished, humility under the rule of God.

Finally, listening in prayerful submission to God’s rule is as important as speaking to God. This is what is intended in the purpose of prayer to cultivate intimacy with God. Prayer, this way, is dialogue, not monologue. For this reason, I pray with an open Bible before me to read it as part of prayer. Cultivating the sense of hearing God’s Word changes things, but mostly it changes me.