There is a shallow side of prayer and a deep side of prayer. Prayer works when done correctly. There is no rational reason to turn your back on prayer because one can see the force of prayer in action over the course of human history. It is a good idea to take the time to understand what prayer really is, and how it works. People pray for different reasons and at varying intensity. A watchman must mature and grow into the deeper end of prayer. That place where you go beyond prayer-as-a-religious-obligation and truly begin to draw upon the power of God to help you. The shallow side of prayer might be ineffective, but there is a deeper end you need to grow into.
There is a need to learn how to pray as a watchman tasked with steering your world towards a better future. Someone who prays at the shallow end of prayer can never understand how it is possible to spend hours in the place of prayer. However, when you begin to observe the crucial role prayers could play in your enterprise and begin to pray with better conviction and understanding, you would get into the experience in no time. You would begin to consciously pray and contemplate the challenges, problems, demons and principalities that stand in your way. If you think none stand in your way, you are probably mistaken. There is always some spiritual warfare to be won before you can record any tangible progress with your work, business or organization.
Deep prayers require a willingness to totally believe that prayer is a critical activity that when done right could make all the difference. These kinds of prayers require you to build capacity. You generally need to develop capacity to the point whereby you have enough knowledge about the situation, enough knowledge about what the Word of God says about the situation, and you are willing to pray for as long as it takes to get the job done.