does cognitive reception of answered prayers depend on me?

if connecting with God's answers to prayer requires a certain level of cognitive skills on my part, there is no hope for me. that assumes i know what those skills are (i don't), that i know how to develop and maintain them (i don't), that i know how much skill is enough (i don't). the success i might experience in receiving discernable answers to prayer cannot be dependent on my skill, my spiritual depth, my level of faith, my meeting of the minimum criteria necessary (you must be at least this tall to ride Space Mountain). i have believed and taught for years that if you go looking for God, at the very least he will come looking for you. scripture indicates that at that moment of encounter, it will be unequivocally obvious that it is either God himself or his official representative. no pre-qualified cognitive abilities required. the notion that God answers prayer - i am no closer to understanding it than i was 18 months ago.