But to me, the whole "answered prayers" thing reeks of favoritism and superiority issues.. if there are two kids in ICU, God will point his finger at one and save him because he was more righteous, more deserving or that more people prayed for him than the other kid?

Dunno. That seems a bit of an arbitrary and convenient/superstitious thing to buy into.

Moreover, if God has a plan for us, it doesn't much matter what decisions we make along the way, because.. well.. we're going to be following the plan anyway, aren't we?

As to sitting on one's ass and being saved regardless, there's more than one religious organization that, while not saying as much verbatum, certainly says all you need is to believe in God/Jesus to be saved. They don't care if you've been a chainsaw murderer as long as you 'repent' and accept God/Jesus in the end. A bit odd, that.

*thinks some more*