Question

I read the trilogy a few months ago, and I have to say that one of the topics that has occupied me most מאז is prayer. You argued that prayers today do not really change reality. And it seems to me that you argued that in the period of the Sages of the Talmud the situation was different, or that they thought it was effective, but in fact it is not.
I think it is possible to prove from the Talmud that they did not place their hopes in prayers, both from the aggadic side and from the practical side. Let’s start with the aggadic side — Berakhot 32b: Rabbi Elazar said: From the day the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer were locked, as it is said: “Even when I cry out and plead, my prayer is shut out.” End quote. And that seems straightforward.
And also from the practical side, the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 16a brings a dispute about when a person is judged: “All are judged on Rosh Hashanah, and their verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur, these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: All are judged on Rosh Hashanah, and the verdict of each one is sealed at his own time… Rabbi Yosei says: A person is judged every day…” And about this Rav Yosef says: According to whom do we pray nowadays for the sick and the infirm? According to whom? According to Rabbi Yosei. And if you wish, say: actually it is according to the Rabbis, and in accordance with Rabbi Yitzhak. For Rabbi Yitzhak said: Crying out is beneficial for a person, both before the verdict and after the verdict. End quote. 
From here we see that although Rav Yosef knew that the Men of the Great Assembly instituted for us the three daily prayers, he did not ask, “According to whom do we pray nowadays the Amidah?” Rather, he asked about the private, one-time requests — for the sick and the infirm. And about that there are two explanations: either a person is judged every day, and therefore his fate has not yet been determined anyway (for if it has already been determined, that is a futile prayer, as in Berakhot 54a), or even if his fate has already been determined, there is still a chance to change the decree. From here it follows that the prayer instituted by the Men of the Great Assembly was not intended for the fulfillment of the wishes mentioned there.
One can raise various possibilities, then, as to what this prayer is. At the moment I do not have a hypothesis that convinces me that this is indeed the reason why we pray, but it seems to me that there is strong enough evidence to say that it is not for the sake of fulfilling wishes.