How do you know when prayer works? All I think is, if I listen for an answer, I’m more likely to fool myself; God will do whatever He wants, regardless of what I pray; my prayers only affect my behavior; if I’m praying because I’m unable to change something, and God likely won’t fix it, there’s no point.
If you respond, please do not go on about how God isn’t real and I’m ridiculous for being religious. We can believe different things, but if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.