Matthew 20:29-32. As Jesus is leaving Jericho with a large crowd following him, two blind men by the side of the road call out to him: "Have mercy on us, Son of David." The crowd rebukes them, but Jesus stops and asks what they want him to do for them. "Lord let our eyes be opened" they reply. So Jesus, in pity, touches their eyes and immediately they see and follow him.

It seems these men, though not followers of Jesus, clearly had the right disposition toward him. They believed He could heal them and they recognized Him as the Son of David. Or, maybe they didn't believe entirely yet, but just thought "What is the harm of asking, it could be true?" If so, even that is enough to get Jesus to stop and talk to them.

This is how prayer works. We don't always have the full and absolute confidence in God that we should, especially when we first start praying. But we are at least turning to the right place (often after trying a myriad of other things!). That tiny step in the right direction is all that is needed to begin. God will "stop," He will listen (He is always listening!), and He will ask "What do you want me to do for you?"

Now, we may not yet be at the point where we ask for the right things, we may just pour out our misery and ask Him to make us feel better, and we may seem to get no answer. But that is okay, we must keep trying, we must keep praying. Eventually, we will "see" that the thing to ask for is that our eyes be opened and, once we ask for that, we immediately realize it has already happened and that it was prayer that got us there.