For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened . God challenges us to storm the very gates of heaven, calling to our aid the presence of His providential aid, seeking His power, pleading for His goodness. Well, look at praying for the moment not so much for what it does to God as what it does to the praying person. When we have a need or an anxiety or other concern, and we begin to pray, to turn our attention towards heaven, we become conscious again of the need we have of looking to a source outside ourselves for true strength and peace and security in life. Prayer rips open the sealed protective packaging we often prepare around ourselves and leaves us open and vulnerable to the touch of God.
Prayer reawakens and sharpens the focus of our faith.
Prayer makes us ready to receive what otherwise we would be too busy or distracted or hardened or lukewarm to receive. Prayer softens us. Prayer reveals us. Prayer trains us. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.