The structure of prayer in Hellenism is very simple on the surface. It follows three core steps. Name and Title, Worship, and Peition. Below is an example:
Blessed Athena, Aegis-Bearing Daughter of Zeus, remember the sweet sacrifices I have burned to you in the past and please hear my prayer, fight for me in the coming battle.
You pray to the God by name and title, list your past worship and service, and then finally, make your peititon. This layout is featured in the opening of The Iliad by even people who are not Greek. The Priest of Apollon at Troy uses this same structure when He asks for Apollon's help against Agamemnon's rebuke. The man's name was Chryses and in his prayer to Apollon, he calls to Him as the God of the Silver Bow, states the temple and sacrifices he gave to the God in the past, and then asks Him for vengeance against the Danaans (another title for the Greek side). Apollon hears this prayer and strikes the Greeks with plague and destruction until they properly atone and respect Chryses.
This is formality and tradition, and the more you do it, the more it becomes second nature and you do it without thinking. But for me, my idea of prayer is not to always ask for continuous personal gain. Normally my daily prayers reocgnize the greatness of the Gods and asks for their continued goodwill and Presence, and the wisdom and peace of the Ancestors and the Dead. For me, prayer is about loving the Gods, not increasing my own gains.
In my own personal life, I like to think of prayer not as an expectation of rewards or an attempt to prove something to other people, but rather for the goodwill of the Gods and the peace that it brings to my own heart, mind, body and soul. Just being there and being able to acknowledge the glory of the Gods, is profound.
In the Goodness of the Gods,
I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,
Chris Aldridge.