Prayer…what is the point? Ok, first…what is it…really? I have described prayer to others as being an authentic space to pour your heart out to God. I have heard it described as being a way to align yourself with what God wants for your life. I have also heard definitions that don’t include God. Dear reader, I wish I could hear your own views on prayer over a cup of coffee (and for any reading this, that is a sincere and standing invitation). In the absence of a face to face discussion, however and taking advantage of e-communication…I welcome any thoughts you care to express through comments.
I went to an expert on prayer to hear her thoughts. Since her husband is a pastor she has been within circles which talk a lot about prayer. However, she has her own personal and deep connection to praying. She employs it in her own life and also leads a weekly group which gathers to pray together. For them it is a collective process of speaking and listening to God and each other. They do this on behalf of people they know and those they do not know…on behalf of people in their communities and overseas.
So, back to my first question…what is the point of prayer? It seems to make a difference at least in the lives I have witnessed. I tried unsuccessfully to find statistics on prayer that had not been conducted by those who already believe in its power. Perhaps the best way to test its effectiveness is to try it. Just a thought…
This is a really different and unique idea I have never seen written about before. Everyone comes from their own religion and background and we all pray, or not pray, in our own ways. I thought it was kind of cool how you "tried unsuccessfully to find statistics" which is honestly what I would expect being that it is one of the most personal practices their is. Did you expect their to be a lot of statistics or not? What are your thoughts and Ideas to this topic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kyle, I could not help but think about how one would go about taking data about whether or not prayer worked and to what extent. This would be an amazing study if we could figure out a system in which we can measure the success of prayer. I find myself praying quite often (before a test, during a game, and clearly at church) but I do not think I have thought to record the success rate of my prayers. How would you go about recording and getting enough data for your study?
ReplyDeleteGood questions...yes, I guess setting up a study on such a thing might be challenging and perhaps incongruent with the practice of prayer itself. I was thinking about somehow measuring the effectiveness of prayer...as in if it make a difference in situations. For example, in medical situations...if there is a different outcome in patients who are being prayed for. In thinking about this, I see the potential sticky points because I do know people and situations for whom prayer has not so much altered the actuality of their situation...sometimes it only alters their perspective on the situation (Julie mentions that a bit). There is a person in my life for whom there has been prayer for healing of extreme medical problems...he has not been healed, but he feels that God helps him with the pain and that it would be unbearable without what he feels in the involvement of God through prayer in the situation. So, though he is in constant pain...he thanks God constantly for helping him with the pain...which is so amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteBut, I digress...with a study on prayer there is of course the obvious problem of people being in different circumstances (the playing field being measured is not level in a sense). So perhaps the only way to "measure" it would be personally...as in looking at your own test scores with and without prayer (of course there are other variables to be considered). So...your questions raise more questions that I will have to think about.
I can tell you so many stories about how prayer has effected numerous circumstances, but stories are not so quantifiable.