Is the importance of having the deep understanding, knowledge, and insight to make specific prayer requests for what is actually needed to fix a problem, an example of the adage, “God helps those who help themselves?”

This indeed is the case. This is a very important concept that will help people in understanding the inner relationship with divine realm, why we do not solve people's problems unilaterally even though we could. This is perhaps the greatest gap in the understanding and acceptance of the divine realm as a reality. The simple, misguided notion that God knows everything and God can fix everything, clashes with the visible reality of the state of the world that problems are rampant, severe, and universal, with no clear evidence most days that God is out and about fixing things and helping people, and rescuing them, and lifting them and changing the world for the better. Many days it seems to be the contrary. What is missing here is human action. This is the human kingdom and it is ruled by humans. Everything that happens falls on the shoulders of the humans themselves. It is unfair to blame Creator for what humans do or fail to do, because they have been set free with their own inner guidance and initiative to seek their own expansion and betterment. How they go about that will determine what happens next and the consequences for them and others affected by them. When people become corrupted, this brings darkness rather than more light and will affect those around them similarly. These are all problems humans need to learn to solve with increasing effectiveness. This is the ongoing struggle but it remains the human burden to figure out and see to it happening. The divine realm is always available to help, but not to replace the human, in the role of human.  In carrying out healing and improvements there must be a human participation to a significant degree, always. For any Divine intervention to occur, there must be a human willingness, a human request, a belief in the Divine, and a belief in worthiness of oneself before divine realm will step in and partner with human to undertake any kind of healing or rescue.  All those conditions must be met, and the reason for the intervention must be appropriate to be considered in the first place.  Most times people are out of alignment to such a degree that it prevents divine realm from giving assistance because the people themselves are not truly open and ready to have Divine healing bestowed.  There are many irregularities and inefficiencies and deficiencies of form and function that make people unlikely to receive significant divine assistance. The sooner people learn the rules of the road and seek out the knowledge that will empower them, the sooner the world will change for the better. This is what is missing—a broader understanding of what it means to be a divine human and where the responsibilities truly lie, and how to enlist the divine to achieve needed cooperation.