@leavingwt: Don't forget about the theory of law of attraction. If you concentrate on something long enough and hard enough YOU can make it happen; this can work in both positive and negative formats.
Prayer can also be likened to deep meditation or a trance-like state in which your conscience alters your sub-conscience. When you pray you are so absorbed that it does alter your thoughts and then your actions follow; essentially you change yourself.
I’m not talking about some spritistic new age crap. I’m saying if your life is centrally focused on one thing, it usually materializes because your thoughts and actions align, then you make it happen whether you are conscious of it or not.