[Avodah] Praying for Miracles (from Areivim)

[Saul Mashbaum via Avodah]

An areivim discussion related to praying for miracles. RMRabi cited
the sources in the SA on the limits of prayer: one cannot pray that
the outcome of an event which already took place should be favorable.
OTOH, there does not seem to be a restriction on praying for a future
miracle .

I wonder if nevertheless some prayers could be considered a tfillat
shav because they are for things so miraculous they border on the
impossible. Can we pray that someone with no eyes have normal
eyesight? That a severely retarded person somehow have normal
intelligence? Are these conditions in the category of the
irreversible, "something which happened already", similar to the sex
of an unborn child? I am inclined to believe so, but have no sources
to back up this feeling. Is anyone aware of written sources on limits
of prayer for reversal of physical handicaps which b'derech hateva are
irreversible?

Saul Mashbaum