Sorry, one eyed, that is just having your cake and eating too.
How so? I don't pray with any expectation that it will cause any divine intervention, but with the expectation that it will help me not worry about things I can't control and allow me to "talk out" my problems even if there's no one to talk to.
I suspect most people have observed this, but it happens to me at work quite frequently as I'm trying to solve a problem. If something's not working like I expect, I'll walk over to a colleague and explain the problem that I'm having. Often, before my colleague says so much as a single word, the answer I seek will come to me. Did my colleague solve the problem for me?
The same goes with prayer. Sometimes I'll essentially talk to an immagined entity that is not present, either out loud or mentally, and the solution to a problem will present itself. The simulation of a conversation often causes you to anticipate questions that a different person might ask (maybe not the questions that you'd ask) and that can often lead you to the solution to a problem.
Is this somehow proof that god exists? No more so than my other experiences prove that all my work colleagues are telepathic.