Does Prayer Really Work? Does God Even Care?

[Tonus]

If you believe everything that happens is god's will, then why be so arrogant to ask him to change it? Wouldn't praying be a waste of time anyway, since his will is going to be done regardless?

That's something I wonder about as well, due to the habit that JWs have of appending "god willing" to many of their plans. "See you tomorrow, god willing!" It implies that we are subject to god's plans and desires, and if he earmarked us for an early termination, then there's nothing we can do about it. Not only that, there's nothing we should do about it-- who would know better how to manage things than god?

But if we're just pinballs bouncing around in god's grand arcade, why do JWs also frequently pray to god to protect them, to see them safely through a day or a trip, or to watch over his followers and make sure they come to no harm? If god's will is that a bus runs me over and sends me on an early trip to the afterlife, wasn't my prayer then just a selfish attempt at getting around god's own plans? (And wouldn't this lead to a situation where god makes me get hit by a bus, then complains that I was acting like a prick?)

Why would any believer ask god for anything? If god already has your life mapped out and his will must be done for the betterment of all, then prayer seems superfluous. I think it's interesting that Jesus prays to god to spare him from his fate and after he has been beaten and tormented and hung on a cross to die, he cries out to god "why have you forsaken me?" So maybe Jesus saw the absurdity of expecting prayer from your subjects when you already know you're going to stick with the plan?