El Oso said:
I guess when you grow up doing it 5-10 times a day everyday--old habits die hard.
It doesn't work.
Curious as to what you mean by "work."
If you conceive of God as a genie in a lamp, who is there to do your bidding and grant your wishes . . . then no, I would say asking for stuff doesn't "work."
But that isn't the idea of prayer. Jesus gave us the example: Praise/thanks, request for provision, request for forgiveness. I pray out of obedience (God wills it and instructs us to do so) and to commune with my creator. That definitely "works."
When it comes to my requests, I don't judge the efficacy of my prayer on whether I "get what I want." Mostly because I fully recognize that I have no idea what is actually best for me.
Example: On Halloween my daughters ask me if they can eat the entire bag of candy, that same night, in one sitting. Me saying "No, that's not good for you" seems, in their minds, that their request didn't "work." But that's because they were asking me for something that as a loving father I knew better than to grant them.
This is why when I go to God with requests, I present them in the manner that I
think I want them, but I always qualify it by saying "God, I have asked for these things, but only insofar as they meet with your loving will for me. What I
really want is whatever I
would ask for if I knew what you know. Please give me that."
You seem to view that as a copout, but again I don't see the purpose of prayer to be my wishlist. I'm talking to my creator, expressing gratitude and praise, seeking forgiveness (repenting), etc. It is communication.