The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition) 2000, sez that, in the legal sense, a prayer is "a request of a complainant, as stated in a complaint or in equity, that the court grant the aid or relief solicited." Once, when I was hearing a small-claims case, I told the unrepresented plaintiff that I could not "grant her prayer" to which she responded "I'm not prayin' to you, buddy. You may think you are God, but you're not."

In Holy Mother Church, the "preces" are a series of short prayers, in the form of versicle and response, which occur in the daily offices.