Answer

What I am saying is that usually that is how it appears. There may be small exceptions, since regarding any given thing we cannot know whether it is the result of divine intervention or of natural processes (natural processes are usually very complex, and we do not analyze everything that happens around us). But whenever we do examine things systematically and in a controlled way, the result fits what the laws of nature would predict. It also does not appear that mitzvah observance is a significant parameter in what happens to us.
In the book I am currently writing on updated theology, I deal with these questions at length and in detail, and it is hard for me to elaborate here.
I will just say that this relates mainly to requests (that He do things for us), and perhaps also to expressions of thanks (for what He has done for us), but not to requests for forgiveness. After all, forgiveness is not a physical action and does not pertain to our world. Repentance and asking forgiveness definitely fit with the picture I am describing. We want the Holy One to forgive us for our sins.
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Isaac S.:
What is the meaning of “asking the Holy One for forgiveness”? Does He have feelings, can He be hurt?
If a person regretted what he did, confessed, and resolved for the future, then he has repented; and if not, then not… What does “asking the Holy One for forgiveness” add? One can understand a request for intervention in the world; one can praise and give thanks (which relates more to the person himself); but what is the meaning of “asking the Holy One for forgiveness”? Is it just an exercise so that we will truly regret these things?
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Rabbi:
Even aside from what I said, on your view, what is the meaning of asking forgiveness?
It seems to me that this is a process meant for us, not for Him—to internalize within us that we were wrong and that it needs to be corrected.