Why we need prayer

In a Ynet article entitled "In praise of ‘social Judaism’", Ariana Melamed suggests that "instead of learning prayers, secular students should practice Jewish values."
In response to education Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s promise that future generations will know what a Shemoneh Esrei Prayer is and the importance of Pirkei Avot, Ms. Melamed writes that the memorization of texts will be an exercise in futility. She asks whether children should be taught "prayer texts, or fundamental values that can become part of their lives even without these prayers?"
She proposes that students should be taught "Social Judaism."
A secular child does not need to be able to recite some prayer in order to perform an act of mercy and understand the value it’s premised on. This child and his or her classmates can recycle bottles and donate to charity. Their class can volunteer to pack food packages for the needy and learn that “all the Jewish people are responsible for each other” or that “your city’s poor take priority.”
In this fashion, the students will "encounter the old-new values of social justice, tolerance, and the supreme duty to be better people."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3771908,00.html

But, it is precisely prayer which teaches us how to be better people.
When we recite the Modeh Ani prayer, first thing when we wake up in the morning, we are acknowledging the gift of life and showing our gratitude to the Creator for restoring our souls. The gratitude we have towards Hashem spills over to our relationships with human beings. Furthermore, we realize that we are not the be all and end all and we develop a sense of humility as we are aware that we can't even move one small finger unless G-d wills it.
As far as Pirkei Avot, the words of the Sages therein provide us with attitudes and actions that we should pursue in order to achieve social justice, tolerance and self-improvement. Without the guiding texts written by our Sages, social justice can be confused with releasing murderers on compassionate grounds, tolerance can be confused for making allowances for everyone's behavior, no matter how aberrant.
So, tomorrow, let's wake up with the words of the Modeh Ani prayer on our lips. It is precisely with the words of prayer that we will become better human beings.

Modeh Ani Lefanecha Melech Chai Vekayam Shehechezarta Be Nishmati Bechemla; Rabba Emunatecha.
I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.

The following are excerpts taken from two articles about prayer. To read the full articles, click on the links.
B) The sefer Sichos Elul (by Rav Chazkel Levenstein zt"l, pg 64-68) writes about another aspect of Tefillah.
Rav Chazkel points out how we are submerged in a society that constantly preaches "kochi v'otzem yadi", (everything we attain is through Our might and Our great intelligence and not through Hashem). This influences us very much. (I saw an article in the "Reader's Digest" about the tremendous ship - the Titanic. The people praised their great might that created such a powerful ship, calling it "unsinkable". It reached the point that one crewman said, "Not even G-D could sink this ship.") Consequently, we need constant reminders that Hashem runs the world. That is what Tefillah and Brachos on food teach us. They are "sichot" on Emunah and Hashgacha. We constantly repeat, "You give us Knowledge..., You Heal us...,". Sh'hakol nihyah bi'dvaro - to believe in simplicity that "all is made only through His words". He concludes, "... likewise all prayer, has one goal, to ingrain the following principle in a person's heart "A person doesn't support himself in any way, all he needs is help from Hashem"." This will help us counter the constant barrage of "kochi v'otzem yadi" that we are submerged in.
http://www.neveh.org/price/price6.html

Many people today do not see the need for regular, formal prayer. "I pray when I feel inspired to, when it is meaningful to me," they say. This attitude overlooks two important things: the purpose of prayer, and the need for practice.
One purpose of prayer is to increase your awareness of G-d in your life and the role that G-d plays in your life. If you only pray when you feel inspired (that is, when you are already aware of G-d), then you will not increase your awareness of G-d.
In addition, if you want to do something well, you have to practice it continually, even when you don't feel like doing it. This is as true of prayer as it is of playing a sport, playing a musical instrument, or writing. The sense of humility and awe of G-d that is essential to proper prayer does not come easily to modern man, and will not simply come to you when you feel the need to pray. If you wait until inspiration strikes, you will not have the skills you need to pray effectively. Before I started praying regularly, I found that when I wanted to pray, I didn't know how. I didn't know what to say, or how to say it, or how to establish the proper frame of mind. If you pray regularly, you will learn how to express yourself in prayer.
http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer.htm