When individuals gather together in prayer, it is as a great river which receives its source of water from tributaries which spread throughout the land. There is a strength and a power which is recognized as you are spiritually joined or united in your powerful flow towards God. The ocean has countless rivers which feed into it, some passing through parched lands, some passing through green pastures, others from towering mountains. Some rivers are slow moving and change direction in endless ways as they find their way to the sea. There are other rivers, which because of the volume contained in them, change direction less frequently and flow with greater urgency to the coast. And so it is with your soul. Though a river may find the ocean tortuously, it inevitably flows forward at whatever speed is proper. All souls in their earthly lives move forward in the direction of God, but some seemingly move more rapidly than others. These souls find strength, as a river finds strength; through joining with others, its course is more secure. Spiritual development proceeds according to the same principle. When souls are joined in their earnest traverse through life toward an awareness of God, there is a strength in unity which exceeds beyond your imagination. This sureness, this sense of purpose, makes it more difficult for life’s contours to alter direction. It is for this reason that corporate worship and smaller gatherings are necessary. It is due to this potential for strength, for sureness, that the world’s many religions were initiated. This is the most important reason and continuing function for organized religion, as you call it.