What do we expect when we pray?

When we pray do we really expect God to be listening? I'm not saying that God may not be entering in with us in prayer. No, do we have the confidence, faith, that we are in His presence and that He cares to make a difference?

Or are we just reciting some words because that's what we're supposed to do? Is it just an exercise, a part of regimen, because it's expected of us as Christians? And when we recount instances of "answered prayer" do we really believe that God intervened in those instances? Or do we really think that we somehow produced whatever took place? i.e., We strived long enough, we did the right things, it would have come about eventually, we were careful to say a prayer along the way to whereever we needed to get to.

When we pray it should be the major event of our day. We should come away from it impacted and catching our breath, sweating, even. And as we look back on days of prayer, periods of prayer, a life of prayer, we should be Moses people; we knew there was a radiance in us when we were meeting with God.