Prayers and Free Will

Dear Internet,

   I touched on this in Skepticism and Catholicism, but only briefly: what is the point of prayers?
   I concede that there is probably a God out there, since I do not believe in the Big Bang theory or evolution, so something must have created us somehow.  Even if the Big Bang theory is true, something had to have created those first quarks.  They didn't just pop up out of nowhere.  The universe can't have suddenly just came to be for no reason at all.  Something out there must have created it.  And we choose to call that something "God".
   Now, assuming that this belief is true-- assuming that there is a God-- it is probably a good idea to respect such a being.  With all the intricacies of the universe he supposedly created, and with all the things that happen in this world and in outer space, he seems to have formidable power.  The power to create; the power to destroy.  I am not advocating fear of him, necessarily- just healthy respect.  Sort of like how one respects Niagara Falls, because it is big and has lots of power.
   So respect: granted.
   But why do we have to worship him?  Jesus apparently told us to, and for a long time before he came along, other people believed in this God guy and offered him dead animals and stuff- but how do we know what Jesus said?  I'm fairly certain Jesus existed; historically, that seems to be confirmed, if by nothing else than a lot of people telling the same story, which would be extremely unlikely to happen if it was a lie, especially since those people insisted that it was all true.
   All right, so Jesus existed.  And he told us to pray to God.
   Supposedly.
   But how do we know that?  We don't.  It's all by word of mouth.
   And yet someone must have told all his disciples the words of the Our Father, which they all know... but who is to say that one of the disciples did not just make it up?  How do we know they kept the same exact words Jesus told them-- once?  It is entirely possible that they messed up the words.
   The church encourages us to pray to God all the time.  To tell him what we want, to apologize for things we did against Him, to thank him for stuff.  But why?
   If fate is true, if God has a plan for all of us, then it doesn't matter what we do because everything has been pre-determined.  We could just sit on the sofa all day watching Spongebob and playing Halo, and our jobs would just fall into our laps magically.  Wouldn't that be nice?
   But no, God gave us free will.
   Well, why in the heck did God give us free will if everything we would ever do was already planned out?  Why would he give us a conscience if all the wrong we would ever do was already in his neat little schedule?  Why would he give us rules for existence if our existence was already going to happen a certain way, rules or no rules?
   Why ask God for anything if everything is already planned out?
   If God has a plan for all of us, if we are stuck with our fates no matter what, then why did God tell us to pray to him?  That would make no sense.  We'd all be asking for things we'd never get, all the time.  Why would he tell us to do that?  Why give us false hope?
   So although fate is supported in the Bible, so is free will.  Both cannot coexist.  It has to be one or the other.
   I tend to believe that some things are meant to be.  But what?  Only good things ever seem to be meant to be, or really really bad things that we have no other way of coping with.  Fate is a coping mechanism of a belief.
   There are lots of stories, though, about things that cannot be explained by science.  Ways in which people were helped, seemingly, by divine intervention.  Stories about events that only seem to prove that the Christian God is real.
   So it seems that God does help us out, does show His infinite power, every so often- if only to remind us that he's there.
   Therefore, I still believe that some things are meant to be, that God interferes with our lives sometimes.
   But why would he do that?  If he has a plan for us... then that would make sense.
   So how can God have a plan for us if fate is not real?  The Catholic church would tell me to stop right there, and settle this whole thought train with "It's a divine mystery."
   Well, I happen to think 'divine mysteries' are a load of bull crap.  I don't think God is three people in one- that's impossible.  Maybe he has friends up there helping him.  Maybe he has the power to split himself into multiple beings if he so chooses.  But I do not believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I mean, obviously, if Jesus spoke the truth, he was the son of God, so there must be a father up there that impregnated Mary.  But what in the heck is the Holy Spirit?  A dove?  A bunch of flames?  The Catholic church would probably say that we represent the Holy Spirit as a dove or a bunch of flames because we cannot really see or imagine its true form.  --Yeah, bologna.  God sent that stuff himself.
   I used to be into praying when I was a kid.  I think lots of kids raised Christian pray for stuff they want-- toys, mostly-- but then they get it and they start to wonder why they should pray for things that they don't get. People pray for God not to take away a dying loved one, and when that loved one dies, they are depressed and lose faith in God.  "Oh, but it was God's will that your loved one died. He was calling them home. It was their time." --That is what the church says.  That endorses fate.  And it means that prayers are useless, because whatever it is is gonna happen, no matter if you pray or if you don't.
   That's why I don't pray anymore.  Whether God 'answers' a prayer or doesn't, people still pray either way, even though they believe God's will is gonna happen no matter what.  And they even ask God for his will to be done, as if we have the power to stop the will of an all-powerful being who put us here in the first place.
   --You see why I'm questioning religion so heavily, here?  Even the basics of life are contradicted all over the freaking place, and we just have to blindly believe it.
   Well, I don't.
   The conclusion for this post is that God probably exists, that prayers are useless if fate is real, and that I am still not sure if I believe in fate.  I still believe that some things were meant to be, but I am still questioning the logic of those beliefs.
   You don't have to agree with me.  You can feel free to tell me, calmly and rationally, why you believe one thing or another.  I'm just sharing my reasoning and my beliefs here.