Prayer is establishing contact with God. It is a communication with God and as such it does not have to be in words or even articulated mentally. We can communicate by a look, a smile, a sigh, or a gesture. Even smoking can be a prayer, or painting a picture, or looking up at the sky, or drinking water. All our bodily actions are prayers. Our body gives grateful thanks when it is thirsty and drinks a glass of water, or when we plunge into a cool river on a hot day; our very being sings a hymn of thanksgiving to our creator. We may not have given thought to this prayer or even intended it. It may be quite involuntary. But we can turn everything we do into a prayer.

Ernesto Cardenal, Abide in Love