One can ask am I taking this bike ride to get me somewhere or am I taking it to get some exercise.  One is doing both simultaneously but is usually focused on one or the other.  In the same way it is helpful to tease out the components of prayer, the spiritual and the kinetic.  The prayer is a spiritual action but may be priming you to do some good that couldn’t come about by appeal to the divine (because God can’t counter free will).  For example prayer for a job.  When you pray for a job you are asking free will to be preempted.  The only way the prayer can be answered is the person being primed to help and work connections.