ro66 – I am probably the last person in the CR who should be answering you as I am not frum (but love hanging out here and learning from everyone). I attend services every day and find that after repeating the same things day in and day out, they can become automatic – and, that is what I love about it. I don’t mean that I am robotic about it, I mean that knowing so much of the service off by heart is comforting and gives me the most pleasure in davening. It is as if I can “wrap” myself in the familiarity of prayer. During a sermon, our Rabbi was listing the excuses that people use for not attending shul and the main one was that it is boring because of the daily repetition. I almost jumped up and yelled “that is the best part about it.” I hope you understand what I am trying to say (I seem to be having trouble expressing it in words) which is for me, I feel closer to Hashem because I repeat the same words again and again. Maybe if you think of prayer as a blanket that envelopes you, you may be able to, once again, FEEL the connection and know why you are there.
