Praying when it doesn’t change anything?

I don’t imagine the typical jew as someone like the stereotypical American who prays for their football team to win. In fact, I imagine that many practicing Jews, both atheists and theists, believe that reciting prayer doesn’t even have the tiniest chance of influencing what happens in the world. If so, for the theists, why do you do it?

Or am I totally misunderstanding, and you don’t actually ask for anything tangible at all? It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to synagogue