Our Mishna on Amud Aleph tells us that even if a person who caused an injury pays full restitution, he is not forgiven until he asks forgiveness, and it is granted. This concept is derived from the Biblical story of Avimelech and Avraham. When Avimelech had a prophetic dream, alerting him to the fact that the woman who he appropriated was not actually Avraham’s sister, but instead, his wife, God instructs him:
Now therefore restore the wife of the man; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live” (Bereishis 20:7)
This shows that aside from making restitution and repair, physically, metaphysically there also must be an appeal for forgiveness.
If I were to ask, who was the first person who prayed to God, the typical answer might be Adam, Kayin, Noach or possibly Avraham. Now, if your definition of prayer is entering into a dialogue with God, the correct answer would be Adam. If your definition of prayer would be asking God to do something or forgive something you might say Kayin or Avraham. However, if you defined prayer as asking something of God, unsolicited, surprise of surprises, the first person who did that would be Eliezer, Avraham’s trusted servant. This occurs when he was met with the overwhelming and seemingly impossible task of finding the right woman from the correct lineage for Yitschok, as described in Bereishis chapter 24.
What was revolutionary about Eliezer’s prayer is that this is the first time recorded in the scripture that a human beseeches God to do something unsolicited. It is a theological revolution. After all, why should we have the chutzpah assume that God would change His plans because we ask for it? Revolutionary or not, this is a principle of our religion, despite the illogic of it, sometimes God awaits and desires the prayers of the righteous before He will act (Yevamos 64a).
It is not surprising that an outsider, such as Eliezer, comes up with a new, out of the box idea. Yisro, as well an outsider, gives Moshe advice about leadership and delegation of tasks (Shemos 18:17-23). It is the outsider that sees the obvious, when those stuck in the system miss it. This is an important lesson in community and family dynamics, to never absolutely dismiss the so-called ravings of madmen. As the Gemara (Bava Basra 12b) teaches, “From the day that the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to imbeciles and children.” Perhaps they may be mad, but as the saying goes, “I may be crazy, but I ain’t stupid.” And certainly, to listen to the voices and concerns of the downtrodden and disaffected often yields beneficial insights.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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