Prayer is communication with the sacred and divine- whether it be the local woodland deity, Elune, the Light, or the Eternal Sun. it is a form of speech and like speech it can be divided between formal and informal. Informal speech can be called conversational speech. It’s everyday speech with nothing fancy. In prayer this informal speech is most appropriate for the divine you are on good terms with and likely to be friendly to you. The light, for example, that i hear often I will repeat informal prayers to- I am however, always respectful. The divine that I am not familiar with I tend to use formal prayers only. As a Priest of the Light I’m certain, for example, Elune will accept my prayers. I doubt Elune would not appreciate me acting as though we were on excellent terms.
If I were to pray to the Eternal Sun or the Sunwell, as some do, however, then I would retain some formality but I would not worry as much.
Formal prayers tends to have grammatical niceities observed, with more prose and the older forms of speech are used. It may contain archaic terms that still exist and are rarely heard or words that are more common now but that are used with archaic meaning. These words are used for their psychological and social implication- always aim for clarity and make sure your formal prayers are carefully chosen and arranged.
Others will note that battlefield healers tend to use a mix of both or not need words entirely. That requires practice and skill, your intent clear and your will strong. In the case of, for example, a priest of the light whose skills healing on the battlefield are legendary. Those skills are honed through experience and blood. Many healers new to a battlefield have found themselves fumble, unused to the short time they have to react to what goes around them.
Power words are short prayers, easily and quickly spoken. Often three lines or less. A good example is:
“Heal these wounds forevermore, these injuries do Restore!”
At the simplest, prayers are talking to the Divine. But the divine is different from us, talking to it is different than talking to another elf. You show this by the style of speech you use when you address them. What you recognize as Divine and its name can tell you much.
Tyleril Silversword 