How does Praying in Buddhism work?

I often hear about prayer in buddhism, but in buddhism there is to my knowledge no concept of deiety worship. So who is being prayed to, if not God or Buddha then who?|||The English terms used to describe Buddhism are seldom very accurate. If something we do looks similar to something the Christians do, it gets called by that Christian term. That is what's behind the questions about whether Buddhism is a "religion" or a "philosophy", whether we "believe in" a "god", Temples being called "churches" (which means "the body of Christ"!), and of course, "prayer". If we are in a "church", sitting quietly with eyes closed or downcast, they call it "prayer'. It could be meditation, Nembutsu, mantras or dharanis, or Sutra chanting. As for who we're talking to, it's usually ourselves or aspects of ourselves. It's like kids in school reciting the multiplication tables- trying to fix the understanding in our minds so we can apply it in real life later.|||Praying is not often done in Theravada Buddhism. At least, my teacher specifically told me that prayer is not really effective or encouraged in this tradition. Some other sects may do it, and it may occur among more superstitious elements of Theravada, but there is no precedent for it in the Pali Canon that I am aware of, my teacher advised against it, and other teachers in the Thai forest tradition have denied the efficacy of prayer.|||Some sects of Buddhism do have deity worship.