I say that the claim that prayer is "communicating with God using pure thought" is your assumption which in no way actually corresponds to what prayer is. Pretty much the only part that is probably correct there is "God", all the rest is assumptions which might be true but usually are not. E.g., actual catholic links above say prayer is an expression of ultimate trust. Not the only definition possible but certainly doesn't fit what you're saying. Repeating it again, it is not possible to reach correct conclusion if you start with wrong assumptions.