Isn't it remarkable how so many people honestly think that praying can accomplish something? Well, the fact is that it can. Not in the fashion that the person doing the praying would believe, however.
We've all heard of the "power of positive thinking," and many are familiar with the idea of daily affirmations. The simple truth is that having a positive outlook on things can help you to be more effective in accomplishing your goals. And if prayer is your way of making yourself think more positively, then you may see some success.
Some even believe in "energy," as in, "I'll send some positive energy your way!" Nice concept, but highly questionable. Some would believe that this is the reason we hear about "studies" done that show how prayer (or the sending of "good vibes," if you will) can help hospital patients recover more quickly.
I put quotes around that word for a reason, I'm sure you realize. And the reason is that these "studies" are so flawed that the word isn't truly applicable. Go ahead and look them up on the 'net. You'll find very little in the way of real science behind the research, and many factors that render the results utterly meaningless.
I have no problem with maintaining high hopes for certain things, or wishing that specific events would happen. But, as they say, "if wishes were fishes, we'd be up to our asses in basses." Wishing something to happen doesn't affect its likelihood. The law of averages is in control, and good luck to you if you're trying to break that law.
But in effect, that's exactly what people who pray are trying to do. Actually, they're trying to do a lot more than that. They're trying to basically change the mind of their God. Not long ago, I wrote an article about a baby born with a heart condition. The family members seem convinced that their prayers were the reason the baby lived at all, since the doctors had told them it was highly unlikely the child would survive long after birth. These people feel their supplications caused an all-powerful deity to alter his plans for the infant.
How arrogant is that?
I mean, if you were omnipotent, would you allow your decisions to be changed just because a handful of your creations wept and wailed for you to do so? And if you did, wouldn't that make you pretty darn fickle? An all-wise creator would naturally have the "right" decision in mind from the start, wouldn't he? If so, then prayers shouldn't affect it whatsoever. If not, then what's this guy up to?
And what of all the prayers you obviously wouldn't grant, if you were God? All the requests for world peace, or an end to hunger, or even the prayers for all the infants who did die for one reason or another. Wouldn't you not only be capricious, but also cruel?
And if you changed your mind only when people prayed to you, wouldn't you be requiring them to demean themselves? Isn't prayer a form of self-abasement, after all?
The power of prayer, such as it is, is entirely a placebo effect. It might make you feel better, and convince you that you've somehow affected things by your wishes, but it's all in your mind.
