Prayer meetings

Does anyone else out there have my problem with prayer meetings?

We evangelicals venerate prayer meetings.  They are, perhaps, the evangelical's equivalent of penance. Like medicine, the nastier it tastes very obviously the better it must be for you.

Here in the community in which I live, after our evening meal sometimes one or another will share the needs of a friend, relative or local neighbour and, being convicted, folk will spontaneously pray out loud for the situation.  To me that is good and wholesome and different from the sort of organised prayer meetings I am talking about.

After most everyone else has prayed out loud at least once one feels a certain pressure to follow suit. And this makes me up-tight and even less likely to think of anything to say. As if prayer should consist of trying to drum something to say!

"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Mat 6:5-8

...and then follows what we call "the Lord's prayer". Which, apart from its familiarity, is about as far from any "normal" prayer I hear said here as you can get.

The account in the gospel of Luke tells us this was in response to the disciples asking the Lord how they should pray. Of course as Jews they knew about prayer so they were asking something deeper, perhaps after seeing the results of Jesus' praying. Like "teach us how to pray, the sort of prayer that has effect". Which are my sentiments also.

That "your Father knows" gives insight that the purpose of prayer is not telling God stuff as if He didn't know. Or, when folk wax eloquent in a prayer meeting, are they doing so to inform the others present rather than to inform God? In which case can it really be called prayer?