Jesus models how to pray and gives us the Lord's Prayer, as well. There are several varieties of prayer. Perhaps the "petitionary prayer" (making a request) is the most common, though. No matter the sort of prayer, when one engages daily or more often with God in one's heart, there should be an element of praise and thanks. Thinking about why this should be so, apart from Jesus setting this model, maybe it has to do with the orientation, posture or attitude that comes from expressing praise (one of reaching upward in worshipful stance, literally 'worth ship' or highly valued) and from pouring out gratitude (an embrace without defensiveness or justification, but rather breathing is a sense of unconditional receptivity to what is being given).
In other words, by approaching the time of prayer in a spirit of laud and eager expectation (praise) and holding one's heart in a position of openness, ready to receive or having already gladly received God's blessing, then one is truly cultivating a prayerful habit of growth, humility, and service to God and to one's neighbors, whether the person is "the least of these" or the opposite, abundant in blessedness, both visible and unseen.
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