I always had a difficult time with the whole silent prayers issue.
I was always told since I was little that if you prayed to God that he always listens, and that you can pray silently in your head to yourself and he listens. To me that never quite made sense that he was reading my thoughts, are you sure he hears prayers? The answer, "if he created your brain, he can surely access it and any prayers" of course that was also used "if you are thinking bad thoughts God can read your mind" etc... and quote the scripture that even if you "lust after a woman" meaning no action, only thought - you were in big trouble!
But my logical reasoning mind never seemed to be able to make sense of the fact that God would be sitting up there and reading minds all day long and reading millions and billions of minds too. Then again, if you think about praying outloud, your audible voice is only heard by those in the room with you, sound doesn't seem to travel all that well, so is God actually hearing audible prayers? That didn't quite make sense either. Sound requires ears. I don't picture God with human ears.
So I after many years of thinking about it, I have decided that I believe we pray to ourselves. That it's a personal affirmation, a personal motivator, it's a tool that reinforces what I want and need in life and saying a silent prayer is actually talking to my own self. Once you pray, it's up to you to do the work. No one ever believes that God answers the prayers of those who sit idly by, no, everyone thinks you have to take an active part in getting your prayers answered.
If God or angels are listening I think maybe they help us with giving us positive energy to accomplish our own prayers and I still do pray in the hopes my guardian angel and my creator is listening, but if not, I do believe the act of praying always helps me personally.
What do you think?