Why pray

Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor describes the value of prayer in today's world.

I believe, naturally, that we must teach each other the art, the necessity, the obligation and the beauty of prayer.
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Prayer is man’s way of saying “yes.” Yes to the universe and to his creator. Yes to life and its meaning. Yes to faith, to hope, to joy, to beauty, to love. A beacon to the lost wanderer, Jacob’s letter to the dreamer in search of dreams. A window to the soul, prayer is what is most indispensable in our passage on Earth. Consolation or compensation to some, sublimation to others, prayer also means power and adventure.
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You say prayers hoping that whatever you ask has been received and understood. It also communicates its lasting faith in the power of prayer. Prayer was the shortest way to reach out for answers to misfortune. It was enough to pray, to pray well, for men or women to reconcile themselves with destiny and to receive some happiness, some peace, either as gift or as reward.
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To pray is to measure what one has and what one lacks, what one is and what one wishes to be, to accept what one is given and given back. Without this ability, we are deprived of an essential dimension. To be closed to prayer is more punishment than sin, for prayer may contain its own reward.

Prayer and study are both given to us to lift ourselves to higher spheres. They are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they complement one another.