I've often thought that the closing prayer at JW conventions is a study in psychology in and of itself.
Consider the typical scenario. It's 4:30PM on a Sunday afternoon. People are tired and hungry. Some have long drives to be back at work on Monday morning. The audience is painfully shifting from foot to foot because half of them are sporting a nice angry blister from a new pair of dress shoes. Children are fidgeting and parents are nearing the end of their rope. Fussy babies are loudly letting the whole world know about their discomfort -- Probably 3 or 4 in every section of the whole colosseum for a total of 50 or so.
With all this and more in mind, an elderly gentleman steps up to the microphone and begins:
"Dear Jehovah God; It is with the greatest admiration and love that we humbly approach your grand and glorious throne at the close of this rich spritual feast prepared for us through your loving provision of the faithful and discreet slave. What a refreshing three days this has been! We thank you dear God for the opening symposium where we were reminded about the dangers of higher education. Some of us, Jehovah are faithful Christians and we would never think of sending our children away from your loving organization to face the depraved, god-dishonoring influence that we know goes hand in hand with worldly colleges. Please help us, Jehovah to know what to say to those parents among us who would. We thank you Jehovah for the afternoon session on Friday and the timely material that was presented. We learned, Jehovah that meeting attendence is a command and we should not let the daily worries and concerns of life cause us to forsake this command..."
On and on and on he goes as the audience steadily grows more uncomfortable. Although the gentleman is not usually reading from notes, the prayer has obviously been rehearsed mentally at the very least. In other words, the length and verbosity of the prayer is no accident.
Is there a reason for a rehearsed 10 minute prayer at the end of three solid days of a JW convention? Especially given the fact that JW's condemn such prayers in other contexts? Yes there is.
Have you ever been summoned to your bosses office for some minor transgression only to be expected to stand there for five minutes or so while you were purposfully ignored? Have you ever forced a naughty and thoroughly embarassed child to look you in the eye and repeat exactly what you told them never to do? Have you ever seen a police officer force someone to stand a short distance from their car to be gawked at by everyone driving by while he or she takes their sweet time writing a citation for a routine traffic stop?
It's all about how humans convey a basic message to each other about the exercise of authority. Obedience is more important than your discomfort
Forcing (Or attempting to force) a group of tired, uncomfortable people to stand there and listen to a windy rehash of the convention disguised as a prayer conveys the exact same message. It lets the audience know at a very basic level, far below that of words, that the directives they were given are more important than their peronal comfort.
It is a thinly disguised exercise of authority --More than words alone, but less than corporal punishment.
And guess what? It works.