pass the hat vs pray

pass the hat

verb
  • To ask for money, especially from a group of people; to solicit donations or contributions. 

pray

verb
  • To humbly beg a person for aid or their time. 

  • To wish or hope strongly for a particular outcome. 

  • To direct words, thoughts, or one's attention to God or any higher being, for the sake of adoration, thanks, petition for help, etc. 

adv
  • Please; used to make a polite request 

How often have the words pass the hat and pray occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )