I used to pray when I was a kid, I was raised in a catholic family. The belief of being heard when I prayed sank one day a long time ago and I find it absurd now. Yet I still believe that prayer is very powerful to the person with complete faith in it. He is creating his own reality and he can bend it if his faith is strong enough even if its for a mere invisible god watching down upon us from a celestial body called heaven. Thats what believers call miracles from a higher being, I look at it more like a miracle done through his deep unconditional belief that something was going to happen.