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First, let's take a look at antiquity and start with piety.

Historically, I'd say that when it comes to Hellenic Polytheism, piety could be summed up as 'religiously correct behaviour'.

This would include:

approaching the gods while wahsed - washing your hands (and sometimes face) with water (especially from a running source; even a tap would be good)

saying prayers

pouring libations to the gods

burning incense

caring for your shines - cleaning them

Prayer was significant to the Ancient Greek religion and had an important role in the customary worship of the Ancient Greeks.

Saying prayers could look fairly different and their formulas might also somewhat vary, just as the reason behind the prayer can also vary. There are countless examples of this in ancient texts - for example, one might pray to a certain god for a favour (e.g. Chryses - Iliad, 1.35-40) and another might pray for any other reason they may consider important to them. Hell, people even prayed to sort of 'make complaints' to the gods (e.g. Menealos - Iliad, 13.631).

I made a post (LINK) with some basic things about prayer where you can find one of the most common formulas (the 'favor'), but it's certainly not the only way to pray and not he only correct way to do it.

Prayer can very be simple, for example, when pouring libation, the prayer could be something as brief as "I pour this libation of wine (or smth else/wineless libation) for the deathless gods. Receive it kindly."

I've seen a few different ways scholars define prayer in the Ancient Greek religion but, basically a prayer is any act performed in religious context/setting where a person addresses a god.

Now, onto my own thoughts on the matter.

Prayer is important to me personally, since I try to be somewhat historically accurate in my practice, however I can't say I pray every day or that my prayers are always very solemn, lengthy and full of pretty mythological references and plenty of epithets! I don't always have time and energy for something like that, so I might just say any simple prayer I feel the need to say. I engage in devotional acts, too; in some cases also when I might not be able pray that day as some other way to honour the gods.

If for some particular reason someone can't pray, I wouldn't personally consider it an 'offence', especially if they venerate the gods in other ways. Perhaps not including the element of prayer in one's worship just might not be 100% historically accurate but your practice does not need to be 100% historically accurate and to be frank, we can't be fully historically accurate since when it comes to this religion, some things just aren't applicable nowadays, it might be impossible to fully reconstruct them or some things just might still be unknown to us, but that's besides the point. It's important to observe the history and the ancient traditions and to learn about the historical and cultural background of this religion, however ultimately it's up to you to decide what your practice will look like and whether or not you'd like to reconstruct certain things.

There are three main parts to prayer in ancient Greek religion: the invocation, the argument, and the petition.

THE INVOCATION —

This is where you address the god by name, including any honorifics, references, functions, or qualities you wish to entreat. Several stacking elements of identification are used here—including epithets.

THE ARGUMENT —

Why should the god listen to you? Remind the god of your prior relationship. If you haven’t yet built one, you should ask a friend or devotee to pray on your behalf. Better yet, use this as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the god and sing their praises.

THE PETITION —

State your purpose. This can include what you want the god to do, regardless of whether your request is specific or relatively intangible.

Of note is the fact that the petition is not a mandatory part of the prayer structure. “You might as easily invoke a god and remind them of your relationship, but not want anything specific, just to keep in touch as it were, and that would be totally fine” (Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts).

PRAYER GESTURES

According to Aristotle “we humans all stretch our hands towards the heavens when we make our prayers” (On the Cosmos). Pollux too suggests this, using the phrases “to pray to the gods” and “to stretch one’s hands upward” interchangeably.

That said, not every prayer was accompanied by a grand gesture. Simon Pulleyn relates how artistic depictions more commonly show the worshipper with one hand raised—not above the head, but “held out in front of [oneself] in a gesture like that used by a policeman to halt traffic” (Prayer in Greek Religion, 1997, pg. 189).

Don’t overthink hand gestures. More than anything, know that prayers were typically done when the individual was standing, their face tilted up towards the heavens (where the gods reside). When consulting the Underworld gods, though, it would make sense to direct your prayers downward. An example of this is seen in the ninth scroll of the Iliad when Althaea prays to Haides and dread Persephone by kneeling and beating her hands on the ground.

MORE ON PRAYER GESTURES

The following illustrations were made by @seedsandsprouts / @jellynymphh and show the many gestures that can accompany your prayers to the gods.

Spoken prayers are typically paired with more dynamic gesticulations, while those that are silent (or muttered) are done more discreetly.

Ancient peoples believed that the gods could hear silent prayers, but such a practice was regarded as anomalous and looked upon with great suspicion. Such suspicions are better left in antiquity, seeing as we live in an age where spoken prayer is no longer standard.

When praying with one hand raised to your lips or the heavens, the hand at your side can be balled into a fist with the thumb tucked into the fingers.