Should religious practice be so complicated?

look the guy above me (first person who posted)...complete moron. You are def supposed to think about things such as this that is why Allah gave us brains. So you aren't "bad" for thinking this. All the formalities that people do after prayer or before prayer (other than Wudu) are all cultural, different people do different things. All you need to worry about is the prayer and being sincere about it. Do you really believe the words you are speaking? If you are then you are fine because it is a connection between you and God, albeit a formal connection. Don't worry about the formalities. Islam isn't supposed to be complicated.