For me, prayer is how I commune with God. It is when I willingly open my heart to God's voice and am listening. It is an effort to quiet my ego, and to feel Love and Truth within. It is surrendering to God's Will.
It is when I am able to (or am trying to) let go and Trust.
I have prayed while diving under the ocean. I have prayed while holding hands with strangers. I have prayed in quiet rooms, on my hands and knees. I have prayed through burned letters, spoken words, in thought, and with melody or rhythm. I have prayed in churches, on sandy beaches and under the whispering forest. I have prayed in temples thick with incense and over the dinner table. I see God in the lullaby a mother sings to her infant, and or in the words we give to an injured friend. God is in the exchange of rice, in our willings to help another, and when we see another human's True self.
I believe God is always listening and always present. God is larger than language, ritual, tradition and culture (though those are all (IMHO) mechanisms of God and ways that I can feel close to God). God is always present and listening, and God will not abandon me.
I am not always present or listening, and I have, at times, abandoned myself. I can be on my knees but still be empty of Love, or I can be folding laundry and filled with Love. In my mind, it's not how it looks (though it's wonderful to have and share practices that remind us and join us in what is Greater than and in ourselves), it's how it feels and what we choose to do with it.
Like you, if I had to wait till I could be still and quiet, I would rarely pray, nor share prayer with my children. Instead, I try to pray and be reminded of God as often and with as many people as possible.
Thanks for the question.