As in the phrase "pray tell". I had no idea the archaic meaning survives in legalese. I wonder what other pieces of Middle English are floating in there.
A surprising amount. I quite like it because it adds a little gravity or austerity to the situation.
gravity + obfuscation for the masses, hence the growing movement to do away with legalese:
In the UK it's not unheard of to use the term "pray tell" in parlance. Particularly in phrases like "And pray tell what did you get up to last night" expecting a stretching of the truth in return or tales of derring-do or misdemeanour moral offences.
That's the point: "Pray tell" is still common enough in contemporary English, while "pray" hasn't meant that for a long time. Archaisms survive in idioms.
It's not unheard of in the US, either. Though I doubt most people who say it really know what it means.
Pretty much. Legal language has some fun nooks and crannies (with my favorite, of course, being "To all whom these presents shall come...").