What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Tonus]

So when we say "pray on it," are we in effect saying "do whatever it is your dad or whoever comes closest to being your dad would do"? I'm curious to hear what people think.

In my experience, most Christians believe that the Bible can provide sufficient guidance for pretty much any question or situation one may encounter. They may have to find the right passage and figure out the proper interpretation, or simply meditate on what they understand about god, or seek out the counsel of elders or priests or just a fellow Christian whose advice they trust. When I was a believer, I understood that by praying, I was asking god to guide me to that answer. Maybe I'd read a passage and realize that it is what I needed to read. Or maybe the person I asked for advice gave me the advice I needed. The assumption that god was guiding the process made it easier to take action with the confidence that things would turn out as god wanted.

This is susceptible to confirmation bias, in that almost any outcome can be attributed to god's plan. Whether we got what we had hoped for or gotten something different, the believer accepts that it was god's will and that in the end he will set everything right. So even if the outcome caused suffering or grief, there would come a time when god would take care of his own and they'd be happy forever. It makes it much easier to buy into the concept, especially if things seem to go terribly wrong.