The Power of Prayer

Does prayer work? I think it does, but the reason it works may have little to do with the reality of what people’s religious beliefs are, and more to do with what praying psychologically does for the prayee.

People pray for many reasons. In Islam, it is a daily multiple requirement. In other faiths it can be done when the feeling hits. Many children pray at bedtime, and prayers are often said at meals. Prayers are even said in the Senate chamber, and at the beginning of a service club meeting. I have no trouble saying “the prayer” at Rotary, because I became well practiced at it growing up in the Mormon faith, and I do it pretty well.

Some people believe God listens to each and every prayer. Due to the immense size of the universe, I rather suspect he is too busy to be there for the multitudes including all of those souls on other planets (if one knows anything about the Drake equation—and you can look it up—this can involve million if not billions of habitable worlds).

Still, the research in psychology is on the side of prayer. Prayer gives people hope, it increases the beta endorphins, it elevates the mood, and it pulls together people of diverse backgrounds. It hardly matters if there is no listener, larger than life, out there taking notes. Sure, petting a dog increases the beta endorphins, too, but a dog is not god, and he can offer little in the way of hope—although a wag of the tail, and a vigorous face lick isn’t all that bad.