Prayer is meditation . . . with love. That's the difference.
Meditation is purely scientific, mathematical.
Prayer has a little poetry in it. It is the same but the formulation is poetic.
Meditation is also the same but the formulation is mathematical. The difference is of formulation; the reality is one.
It is just as when a scientist looks at a rose and a poet looks at the same rose. Their descriptions will be different; the rose is the same. They both looked at the rose at the same time, they may have been standing holding each others' hand. But the scientist looks through science; his description is going to be completely different.
Meditation is God seen through the scientific vision the mathematical vision. Prayer is poetry. It is the same reality but seen with loving eyes, seen with a loving heart. Prayer is richer than meditation because it has something more than meditation.
So prayer can move you. Meditation can only make you silent. It will give utter silence but it cannot give you ecstasy. Prayer can give you ecstasy because prayer can give you great passion. It can move you, it can make your energy dance, sing. So if prayer is possible then don't settle for meditation; go into prayer. If prayer is not possible then I say go into meditation.
OSHO