Hi

I’m a doctor and I’ve been preparing for my foreign licensing exam for about 7–8 months. I started completely from scratch and worked really hard. Alongside studying, I prayed consistently — in iftari, sehri, Laylatul Qadr, and even tahajjud. I genuinely tried to do everything I could, both practically and spiritually.I ended up failing by just 5 marks. And that’s what’s confusing me. If I hadn’t worked hard, I wouldn’t have come this close… so what’s the point of praying? What does prayer actually change?I’m not questioning faith itself — I’m trying to understand the philosophy behind dua. People say “prayers never go to waste” and “dua can change anything except death,” but when you pray so much for something and still don’t get it, how do you make sense of that?I’m feeling demotivated and trying to understand what prayer really means in situations like this.