وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ "And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you" QURAN - 15: 99
فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمُ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قِيَـٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِكُمْ ۚ فَإِذَا ٱطْمَأْنَنتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَـٰبًۭا مَّوْقُوتًۭا
Then when you have completed prayer, celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth" QURAN - 4:103
In the Quran Allah mentions "worship" and gives different ways we can worship Him, such as standing, or during sitting or lying down. Worship is a means to gain closeness to Him, as well as gain certainty (in belief of Him). When people worship the Lord, even though we may all be bowing our heads in the same manner it is clear that everyone's prayer is different spiritually and in status. The prayer read by some of our pious predecessors are said to have been so strong that those around them felt and gained benefit spiritually from their prayers. There is a famously known story of Hadrat Ali (as) regarding the level of his concentration and passion in prayer that onces during a batter he was shot through the leg with an arrow. His supporters attempted to remove it from his leg, but Ali (r.a) couldn’t bear the operation because the pain was so severe. Finally he told them, “Let me stand in prayer. When I am in the midst of prayer, pull the arrow.”. They followed his instruction, and took out the arrow easily. When Ali (r.a) finished his prayer, he asked them whether they had been successful! His devotion and meditation of worship to the Lord was so deep that it even removed him from the possibility of pain.
Humans naturally are motivated by two types of things: Rewards and Punishments. And this theme is also prevalent in the Quran. In ethics, studies also support this phenomena and they categorise it under: Autonomy (where one does good from oneself) or Heteronomy (where one does good out of fear of someone else). In Islam both are accepted and rewarded, however the status held by the former is much higher than the latter. In worshipping we also have this similar theme. Imam Ghazali (ra) very beautifully categorises the reason of worship in 3 general categories. He says there are three kinds of worshippers:
Ibadatul Abeed - those who worship God out of the FEAR of Him or His punishment. This relates to Heteronomy.
Ibadatul Tujjar - those who worship God seeking after a REWARD.
Ibadatul Ahrar - those who serve or worship God out of LOVE, because they just know He is deserving of being worshipped. This relates to Autonomy.
All three are blessed and to just be categorised into any one of them is a blessing in itself. Howbeit, the rank of the third is the highest of them all. And very few actually reach this level. Those that do usually stand out in society and have the highest moral codes. They are the unsung heroes who will help you in secret and not want anything in return. They are the gems of society.
The amazing thing about this blessed month of Ramadan is, it is a month that caters for and encourages worship to all three types of people: The Abeed (Fearful) will be told that due to Shaytaan being locked up the sins you commit are due to your own actions so as a result the sin/punishment will be double so he strives to do good and refrain from sin out of fear of getting punished. The Tujjar (Reward seeker) is told that every good action is given 10x the reward in Ramadan, so they will recite more Quran, do more dhikr, pray more salah. Some will go to the extent to even calculate how many rewards they have obtained, and keep accounts of it. The Ahrar (Lover) will worhsip God in Ramadan as he does out of Ramadan but the benefit he has is the fast itself. As God says Fasting brings one closer to Allah, so he will use this to his advantage. He will not think about any reward or punishment. But will worship Allah (Fast, pray salah, do dhikr, recite Quran, seek knowledge...) all to get closer to the Lord and solely to obtain His pleasure.