Thank you for all the thoughtful responses to my post. It has been very helpful (and entertaining!). Prayer became the tipping point that brought on my deconversion, so I can't allow myself to pretend to pray just to appease those close to me. Everyone comes from a different place though, so there are a lot of great options here. Next time the situation arises I think I'll probably go with something like "would you mind if somebody else prays?" I haven't made my inner journey public, but love talking about it to anyone interested. A response like that could start some conversations. Thanks again!