When we enter into this relationship, we become acutely aware of God as a living presence and we are lifted up by His love. But this view, known as pantheism, raises other problems. The wave is never more nor less than god expressing as you. All the love and power and order of God is fully available at the point called you and at the point called me. From the original Greek in this passage, we can see the source of the word panentheism.
Prayer changes things, all right.
It changes us when we have gotten out of alignment with God and are not open channels for God's good to flow to us. I've heard author Wayne Dyer describe this in terms of the drift on an FM radio station. The station is always there, but we must be properly tuned into it. I have also heard televangelist Robert Schuller describe prayer as standing in the prow of a rowboat, throwing your anchor firmly into the wet sand of the beach, and hauling on the rope. You are not pulling the shore to the boat, despite appearances.