Ah yes, our experience almost always demands expression of some sort, doesn’t it?
The first known use of the word “pray” was in the 13th century (according to Merriam Webster) and is derived from the old High German word fragen, to ask (and the Sanskrit word, pṛcchati, he asks). Prayer is often considered petitionary (Anne Lamott’s, “Help me, help me, help me!”) but gratitude makes a prayer, too, as Mary Oliver so deftly points out. Paying attention is perhaps the highest form of praise.
As for open doors and other voices, I think the existence of such things is entirely subjective. I’ve experienced both and though neither has convinced me of the presence of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God interested in me because I’m one of His, I nevertheless delight in both the petition and the praise because they make me feel part of this life I find myself living, part of humanity with its frailties, its failings and its soaring capabilities (though there are times I pray I was a dust mote or a leaf or anything other than what I am), and part of nature itself. It’s enough (for now).