Prayer Part 3: Prayer and Science

Is there any scientific reason to suppose prayers are answered, or to put it more colloquially, that prayer works?  Might be.

David Hodge, an assistant professor at the College of Human Services at Arizona State University reported on his work in 2007. He performed a comprehensive analysis of seventeen major studies on the effects of intercessory prayer offered for people with psychological or medical problems. Of the seventeen studies, some indicated positive outcomes; some negative outcomes, i.e., some indicated prayer made a difference, some that it didn’t. This sort of meta-analysis averages the results of all seventeen studies, controlling for differences in sample size and other variables. It’s a highly acceptable approach to studying a subject.

The result was a net positive effect for the groups for whom people prayed. “Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective,” he wrote. However, he went on to indicate that prayer falls into the realm of a supplemental “treatment.”  All the people in all the studies were receiving standard, traditional medical treatment while prayer was offered for them. He flatly stated that research could not support prayer as a solo intervention.

This was the only meta-analysis I could find in my limited research. From reading specific studies of the effects of prayer, it seemed the results indicated that those prayed for fared better on a variety of measures, such as how much antibiotic they required, or how many cardiac events they experienced. No study reported that anyone was “cured” due to prayer, even prayer and medicine.

So where does that leave us? As I indicated in the last post, one’s definition of prayer is important and in the post prior to that, that there are many definitions of prayer. I can attest that a huge number of books have been written about prayer, extolling its power and necessity and that a number of websites exist that argue that prayer is a waste of time. I wish I knew what was true.

For me, I have journeyed in my understanding of prayer. I began with “Now I lay be down to sleep…” in which I included prayers for my parents, my brothers, and a very ill aunt. I was taught to do this. I never questioned if it “worked” or not. Over time, I had experiences in which I would have said that a prayer was answered, but I had many more in which I concluded that if God knew best, God needed to clue me in pretty quickly. I was praying for something I was sure aligned with God’s will only to discover I must have been wrong. In my modestly advanced age, I have tended to believe that “prayer changes the one who prays.” Still, if you ask me to pray for you or someone, I will. I’m clear when I do it that what will come of the prayer is outside of my ability to know. But, can it ever hurt to talk to God?

Peace, Jerry