Just a prayer philosophy as I was reading my pal, Lewis, recently. In one address (recorded in The Weight of Glory) he mentions a problem Christians face as they mature in their faith.
We pray for all sorts of stuff. We put all sorts of things before Him. We believe He wants to help us and He wants to talk to us. But then we get off our knees before He has the chance to speak to us. We stop the meditation just shy of His word. We don't read our scriptures long enough to hear His take on our problems.
Sometimes, it's laziness. Granted.
Sometimes, it's not.
Sometimes, we don't want to hear from Him. We go through the motions so we'll be able to say, "yeah I've prayed about it," or "geez, I dunno, God's just not talking to me." Maybe it's not conscious. Maybe it's on an inner level. Fear of intimacy -- sure, why not? Why shouldn't our temporal problems invade our spiritual life -- they often do. I think we're afraid of really being known.
Also, we're afraid that if we hear from Him, we'll be faced with doing what He tells us to do. And then, we fear, we'll be held accountable for choosing not to do that; perhaps we think that is worse than just cutting Him off before He speaks. Either way, we've made a choice. The problem is, we know we'll feel guilt for the one; we too often don't feel guilt for the other.
I know I've been guilty of this at times. Said, "God this is what I need, what I want, what do I do?" and then "Amen."
There's a lot to be said for the intimacy that comes from being still and just knowing that He is God. Maybe KNOWING that will put us in the right place -- eagerness for a word from Him.