No, prayer in runescape is not exactly like real life. Here is the low down of runescape prayer.
As well as using magic spells you can also pray to the gods of RuneScape to give you an advantage. To view the available
prayers, select the prayer icon from your interface. You can see what each prayer does by moving your mouse over the icon.
The list of prayers shown will light up when you are at the appropriate level to use them. If the icon for the prayer is
darkened then you are not at a high enough level to use that prayer.
Each of the prayers can be turned on or off individually. Whilst a prayer is in use, your player will be given an advantage
depending on the prayer. To activate a prayer just left click on it. The icon will light up to indicate the prayer is active.
Click on the prayer again to deactivate it.
Whenever you have prayers active your prayer-points will slowly drain down to zero. The more prayers you use at once,
and the more powerful they are, the faster your points will drain. When you run out of prayer-points all the effects will
be deactivated, and can't be used again until you recharge your prayer-points.
To recharge your prayer-points you must find a church in the game, and left click on the altar to recharge. You are then
ready to use the different prayers again.
To uses your prayers longer, get more prayer points. The more prayer points you have, the longer a point lasts before
it is drained, and the more points you have to drain before you reach zero.
When you reach level 31 prayer, you may enter the monestary. The monestary is located by the dwarven mines, a bit
further northeast. Beyond the monestary is a cabbage patch, and the wilderness.