Prayer is an act seeking to engage with an object of worship, generally a deity, in direct and deliberate communication. Prayers take a variety of forms, as part of a set liturgy or ritual, in solitude, or in a community or group. Prayers may be performed as hymn, incantations, formal creedal statement, or as unscripted spontaneous utterances. In some cases prayers call for acts intercession from a deity, or a deified ancestor, or, prayers can be said to give thanks or praise.