Prayer is not mostly about asking for stuff.  It is about seeking God for Himself.  It’s about hearing and knowing what God thinks.  It’s about experiencing who God is.

It’s like having an old friend (an older friend) and saying, “I’m having this issue, this problem, and I want to know what you think about it.  I want to know how you’ve dealt with this problem in the past.  I don’t exactly want you to fix it.  I just want a little wisdom about how to look at it in a new way: to see it from a new perspective.

God can be that person.  He can, and will, and does, share what He knows, Who He is, in that exact situation.  Often, it’s when we didn’t even know we were asking; and we come to a new realization of who we are in that situation and in our relationship with God.

Now, go read Romans 12:1-2 in light of this idea: that God really wants to be, really is: your wise old friend.