God knows what you want and need before you know.
Prayers bring things bubbling to the surface, for me. Even things I know are unworthy desires can become known to me during prayer. I can tell Father that I didn't really mean it, but He knows better. While praying the "Our Father", if my mind is fully engaged with the meaning of each part it will bring things out for me. He is Great, have I been paying attention? He's been providing, Have I noticed & thanked Him? I worry about evil, but He can move mountains, I need to stop hiding under my bed & get into the battle. He forgives me, goodness I've been holding on to my anger toward another, time to deal with that.
I would add that we pray also for the blessing of accepting God’s decisions/will. We KNOW what God wants. The Church teaches us that in multiple ways. The problem is that we very often want something else and choose to proceed to act on what we want rather than what He does.
Have you ever noticed God's hand acting in your life? Look at your words again, "I would add that we pray also for the blessing of accepting God’s decisions/will." If He's dabbling in our lives, are all of our actions our own, the result of total free will?
“If He’s dabbling in our lives, are all of our actions our own, the result of total free will?”
Yes, absolutely. Our personal actions and decisions are our own and the result of a free will acceptance or rejection of God’s grace. Accepting God’s will involves several things, two of which are understanding that when we reject God’s grace, we are acting contrary to His will that we become like Him and second that we are wrong if we seek to influence others in any way other than that they also become like Him; in other words, foster an acceptance of God’s transforming grace in others but not to pray that another does or becomes something or someone WE might want them to become.