the first question should be, "who or what is God.?" if your conclusion is that god is yourSELF and everything around you, then you can direct your prayers to what YOU regard as important...in my case that would be me. then the other question,"what is prayer?" only you can determine that for your self. for me, prayer is simply talking to mySELF and working out what action is important for my benefit. kneeling down and clasping hands aren't necessary nor any other ritual. using my vague definition of prayer, i guess one can meditate to do both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE...it all depends on the individual. in any case, one can pray at any time and in the presence of others. my question to you though, who is your god and how do you venerate your concept of god?