Pope John Paul II indicates that people sometimes say they don't know how to pray: How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray.  You can pray the way your mother taught you; you can use a prayer book. Sometimes it takes courage to pray; but it is possible to pray, and necessary to pray. Whether from memory or a book or just in thought, it is all the same.  See, John Paul II, The Way of Prayer, Crossroad Publishing Co. (1995).