When one prays one does not necessarily acquire anything.
On the contrary, it is said that a person should not even enjoy it.
If he gets pleasure out of prayer, out of seeing himself in the act of prayer, he should perhaps do something else.
A Tzadik once went to an extreme in this respect–saying that he preferred someone who said that he fasted from one Sabbath to the next to someone who actually fasted, because a person who claims to fast deceives only others whereas a person who actually fasts deceives himself.
So long as there is a feeling of triumph or satisfaction, the point is missed.
What should remain has to be more in the nature of burnt ashes, or, at the highest level, no residue at all.
The peak experience should be beyond all feeling, or the capacity to talk about it.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From In the Beginning by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz