"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." This is the core, required statement of prayer. But recital is not enough. Intentionality matters.
If one happens to be reading the Sh'ma in the Torah and reads it with the intention to fulfill the commandment of reciting it in prayer, then it counts. Otherwise it doesn't. In fact, intention-attention (kavana) is required to make prayer count. No passive, empty recital of well-known words.
And it works both ways I.e. you can over intentionalize. So while it is meritorious to elongate the Sh'ma by drawing out the last word (echad - One), Rabbi Hiyya ben Abba says "once you have declared [G-d] king over everything above and below and over the four quarters of Heaven - nothing more is required." 'nuff said.
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