Hi, Malcom! Welcome to WCF. I hope it's not too late to answer to this post!
God always answers prayers. It's not always the way you want them to be answered, and it's not always right away. But he always answers prayers. It's not always the way you want them to be answered because if that's how God did things, just answering prayers the way others want them to be answered, we would have a LOT of problems in the world, we may not even have a world at all. God will always do what's best for you.
God did not abandon Rachel, he called her home. But whether or not she was a Christian decides whether she went to Heaven or Hell. Her death may even be a test of some sort. God is always testing us, not so that he knows whether or not we are loyal to him, he already knows the answer to that. but I believe that he tests us sometimes to help us grow stronger in him or show us something we need to learn.
Blessings!
I mean, if someone really wanted to change but had trouble doing so. If they were trying, but then they kept failing because they didn't have enough willpower to resist worldly temptations, do you think that if they were baptized, they would have enough incentive to obey God's word better?