Prayer asks for very little from us. It asks that we stop, face our Lord, and say what we already suspect: that we cannot manage alone. The Qur'an returns to this act again and again, calling us to it at the edges of the day and in the middle of our fear.
Some of us come to the prayer mat after a long absence, unsure whether we are welcome. These verses answer softly. They name prayer as a place of rest for the heart, a shelter from what harms us, and a way of remembering the One who never forgot us.
2:45 — Seek help through patience and prayer — and it is indeed hard, except for those who are humble before God,
2:153 — You who believe, seek help through patience and prayer. God is with those who are patient.
20:14 — I am God — there is no god but me — so worship me and establish the prayer to remember me.
29:45 — Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book, and establish the prayer. Indeed, prayer restrains from indecency and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of God is greater still. And God knows what you do.
13:28 — those who believe, and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance of God — truly, in the remembrance of God hearts find peace.
11:114 — And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the near hours of the night. Good deeds drive away bad ones. That is a reminder for those who remember.
17:78 — Establish the prayer from the sun's decline to the darkness of night, and the recitation at dawn — indeed, the dawn recitation is witnessed.