..I'd have to say, based on the fairly traditional experiences I had back then (Midwestern-type Protestant Sunday School, etc...), that there doesn't seem to be a lot of teaching on HOW one should actually pray. No methodology, no focus (though I understand this is somewhat different in Catholicism, with the rosary and all). Pretty much boiled down to 'wishes' and 'flattery'.
I can contrast this with what I've learned about meditation in several other non-Christian traditions, where there was far more discussion about how one should meditate, and far less discussion about what one expects to achieve from it. The results of meditation were expected to make themselves known as appropriate, but the results were also less ambitious (such as achieving a state of calmness and acceptance) than the sorts of results many seem to expect from prayer in most Christian traditions, particularly American Protestant ones (for example, healing one's blindness, winning the big game, getting a new job, losing weight, etc...).
Chaplain: Let us praise God.
(The congregation rises.)
Chaplain: O Lord…
Congregation: O Lord…
Chaplain: … ooh, You are so big…
Congregation: … ooh, You are so big…
Chaplain: … so absolutely huge.
Congregation: … so absolutely huge.
Chaplain: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here, I can tell You.
Congregation: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here, I can tell You.
Chaplain: Forgive us, O Lord, for this, our dreadful toadying, and…
Congregation: … and barefaced flattery.
Chaplain: But You're so strong and, well, just so… super.
Congregation: Fantastic!
Chaplain: Amen.
Congregation: Amen.