"Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant." Genesis 25:21

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Philippians 4:6


I agree with your dis-ease towards all the questions like "Are you making Jesus #1 in your life" and crud like that. They seem to be well intentioned, but that doesn't mean they are pointed in the right direction. Mostly for me they make me question my justification more than worry about sanctification.

However, I have found that prayer is a very important part of my life. It seems to be that things happen in the opposite direction that you mentioned, Nate. Although I have prayed and asked God to act, as Isaac did way back when; usually it happens that in prayer I've been told to do things I didn't want to do, but when I did them God's work has been done.