様(よう)に祈(いの)るPray that/for, Hope that/for, Keep fingers crossed that

As we have seen several times now, the auxiliary verb ようだ is frequently used with verbs, to express that the 'completion' of an action is the specific goal/wish of the speaker. It does this implicitly through the meaning of the kanji 様(よう) 'manner of doing'.

ようにいのる (or 祈(いの)る in its kanji form) is no different, and will imply that the speaker is praying for (A) to be done/completed. This comes from the meaning of the う-Verb 祈(いの)る itself, which can be translated as 'to pray', or 'to beg'. Despite being able to be used when actually praying, this grammar point is used most often to express a 'hope'.

In a similar way to other ように structures, ないように may also be used with 祈(いの)る, to show that someone is praying for something 'not' to happen.

Caution

However, 'unlike' other ように structures, ように祈(いの)る will sometimes be shortened to ように by itself. This is especially true after ます.

This is the only ように structure that will have the verb that comes after it omitted. Therefore, ように (by itself) will always mean 'to hope for', and should not be confused with ようにする, ようになる, ようにいう, and other similar grammar points.

Fun Fact

といい is also used to express 'to hope for (A)', or 'to wish for (A)'. However, unlike ように祈(いの)る, the person that the speaker is praying for with といい will mainly be determined by the use of ね (praying for someone else), or な (praying for themselves).