Why pray?

Here is the one thing that I just don't understand... if people believe that god is all powerful and makes things happen and can fix things... why do they pray to the same being that caused the illness that they are praying for a cure for? So if your child has come down with an illness... god caused that illness, so why pray to him to cure the illness that he caused? If you believe in god so strongly, why not just continue to pray rather than take you child to the Dr.  The answer is because science and medicine are what cures, not praying. I understand what it feels like to feel helpless and want to feel like you are actively doing something in order to help... praying lets you feel like you are actively doing something.  When my mother was gravely ill and in the hospital I felt completely helpless, I wished that there was something that I could do for her.  She was in the ICU getting the best care that she could get... that is what I had to take comfort in.  I was raised Catholic and it was a cognizant effort on my part to realize that praying wasn't the answer. I just thought about my mother and the memories that I have of her, I thought of the care that she was getting in the hospital and took comfort in those things.