From etymology online
pray (v.) early 13c., "ask earnestly, beg," also (c. 1300) "pray to a god or saint," from Old French preier "to pray" (c.900, Modern French prier), from Vulgar Latin *precare (also source of Italian pregare), from Latin precari "ask earnestly, beg, entreat," from *prex (plural preces, genitive precis) "prayer, request, entreaty," from PIE root *prek- "to ask, request, entreat" (cognates: Sanskrit prasna-, Avestan frashna- "question;" Old Church Slavonic prositi, Lithuanian prasyti "to ask, beg;" Old High German frahen, German fragen, Old English fricgan "to ask" a question).
That encompasses the wider meaning more accurately. In Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" (Act 2, Scene 2) when the character says to the man who struck him,
"I pray, sir, why am I beaten?"
he is not adoring the man, nor is he exchanging wishes with him. He is urgently asking him a question. That's all.
That illustrates a wider usage than your Greek lexicon suggests.
That's the problem! Catholicism goes beyond the meaning of the texts!
btw...it's not my lexicon. It's how the words are used in the text.
If we don't have an accurate definition of the words used in the text we miss the meaning of the text.