Technically, theologically (at least in 21st century U.S. mainline Protestant Christianity, to disclose my perspective) prayer can be categorized as of “adoration,” of “supplication,” of “confession” or “repentance,” of “intercession,” or of “thanksgiving.” If you pay attention to my “classically trained” prayers, you will hear “Wow, you are wonderful, God,” “Could you help me/us with this,” “We made mistakes,” “Can you help so-and-so with something,” and “Thank you for what you have done for us” prayers, respectively.
The magazine article and most research deals with prayers of supplication and intercession. Makes sense, since these are typically the most urgent ones, the prayers where we ask divine help for ourselves or others having troubles. These are also prayers which may or may not yield the results we ask for. Prayers of thanksgiving or adoration are pretty much given to God out of a sense of gratitude. Prayers of confession rise from guilt or shame, which we ask may be removed so we can do better. But supplication and intercession are more transactional and can be tracked: did so-and-so get better?
Some religious traditions believe prayers cause the divine to do something for the pray-er, while others (such as Protestantism) believe in God’s sovereignty, which rules out prayers coercing God into doing human will. Ancient religions had no such qualms about saying, “Baal, I brought two sheep to sacrifice, so you owe me a good harvest.” Around us, other Christian traditions are comfortable asking God for things with the expectation God will give it to them, ranging from material blessings to healings. Some prayers don’t have the desired outcome. In general, if the result doesn’t come through, more people believe their faith or worthiness is lacking and they need to pray harder, but some believe it is God’s failure. Certainly, it can be emotionally difficult when prayers you have set your heart on don’t come to pass.
Still, most people who pray believe it is worth doing, often saying it helps clarify your thoughts and center yourself. Contemplative praying is often described as very freeing and beneficial. Quite a few years ago there were studies of contemplatives and mystics of many traditions around the globe, and the health and wellness benefits were both physical and psychological. Praying is good for you, the pray-er.
The next question is far, far more interesting: is praying good for the other person? The research is not so conclusive, partly because the internal experience of spiritual energy is hard to quantify. Of course, scientists keep trying, but prayer refuses to be pinned down.
One small study I saw took persons described as successful pray-ers from many faith traditions and set them to praying for a number of subjects who were asked to report on what they felt at different times. In general, the results were positive; the recipients of prayers felt better because they were being prayed for. I am more intrigued by another study (also across different faith traditions) in which prayer athletes were given persons to pray for, with specific sorts of externally determinable results: “did the person’s cancer go in to remission?” The wrinkle was that the recipients didn’t know they were being prayed for! The results were not as good statistically. Clearly an important dynamic is that subjects for prayers know they are in our prayers and know of the support, and that makes a huge difference. Even being aware of an anonymous prayer circle around you is beneficial, and it appears that even non-religious recipients of prayer have more sense of well-being. Sometimes that provides medical relief or other tangible benefits, but not always. So prayer “works” in that sense, even if there is no change in the medical outcome, for instance. Intercessory prayer surely works because of the person-to-person connection, not necessarily because of some energy flux causing cancer cells to evaporate.
And that, to me, is how many people will speak of a broader sense of healing rising from other people’s prayers even if the physical results are not dramatic nor contravene scientific expectations. Parishioners whose illness or problems are not removed say to me that they feel loved and supported and safe in God’s love and the love of others even when the scans come back worse. We are not just the sum of our finances or medical conditions, and a nuanced sense of prayer understands that. Sure, we can start by asking for bodily healing, but we may well discover our greatest healing is emotional and spiritual. In that sense, I totally know prayer works!
So let’s do a bit extra praying this Lent, especially of thanksgiving and penitence, but also for others we know and care about. If a Lenten trial run of intercessory prayer seems good to you, I encourage you to join the group of people on the email prayer list each week and the group of people who gather at the front of the sanctuary offering prayers in person to others. Prayer works… particularly if you work on it!
Thank you, God, for the privilege of prayer!
In Christ,
David
Texts For Sunday Worship:
From the Hebrew Bible Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16
From the Epistles Romans 4: 13-25
From the Gospels Luke 8: 1-3
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