Could prayer exist without empathy?

A quote showing prayer pre-dates the biblical times:
Scholars from the Oriental Institute have been excavating at Iraqi sites since 1903. One famous find came from a temple site at Tell Asmar, northeast of Baghdad, where Oriental Institute archaeologists unearthed a cache of statuettes dated to about 2500 B.C. Their hands clasped in prayer, these sculptures of Mesopotamian men and women worshipping their gods
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/archaeology.html