Does it pay to pray???

Daniel 6:10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
Daniel was disliked.  He was the teacher's pet, always knew the answers, always did the right thing.  His peers were jealous - by comparision nothing they ever did was good enough for the king; Daniel had to be eliminated.  What better way than for Daniel to be caught "being good," doing as he always did-spending time with God in prayer. They plotted; Daniel prayed.  Daniel ended up in the lion's den.  Of course, we all know the rest of the story - God delivered Daniel from the lions and his accusers got a dose of their own medicine; not the way they had it planned.  We are not always in such clearcut cases of whether to pray or not - do or die.  But we do often face times where we wonder if it's really worth it to pray.  After all, when we pray God DOES change things, and the results of our prayers may be Him asking US to do something hard.  Hard is not bad; hard can bring greater than we ever expected. It always "pays off" to pray, just not alway right away. So go ahead. Start the day. Pray.