The Power of Prayer?

Question: Do you believe in the power of prayer?

This is a hard one for me.  Not because I am undecided as to my position but rather because it is difficult to explain or justify my belief.  It is not based on religion, mysticism, miraculous happenings or divine intervention.  (However, due to my Catholic upbringing and faith, these do also come into play).  My belief has more to do with the energy forces that are present within and around us and the chemical reactions that occur as a result of this energy.

First a brief explanation of what I mean by prayer.  It is an invocation or supplication of some type, verbal or nonverbal, typically enlisted at a time of strife, need or in thanksgiving.  Contrary to popular acceptance, I hold that it does not necessarily have to be directed at a deity or other spiritual being or force.  In fact, the word “pray” in itself does not imply any sort of religious belief or divine intervention.  It is a plea or expression that may or may not require intervention but which allows the pray-er to focus thought and energy toward a certain issue, individual or circumstance.

Pretty deep don’t you think?  So let me keep going and see if I can bring it up a bit by illustrating my personal theory.

A pray-er (one doing the praying), constructs an invocation that addresses a desire to improve his ability to handle a certain stressful situation.   By concentrating one’s thoughts the body may relax or tense (depending on the issue), and produce chemicals and hormones (dopamine, adrenalin, etc.) that increase the pray-er’s ability to focus on the issue, thus potentially improving his mental and emotional ability to handle the situation.

Are you still with me?

In the case of healing the concept is much the same.  In this case there are two parties – the pray-er and the prayee – who may actually be the same individual.  A petition for healing or improvement of a condition is made (the prayer).  This production and focus of energy serves to produce a chemical reaction within the prayee that may inhibit healing or improvement of the condition.  (You might want to read my post on Auras if you have not already done so.)  The energy may extend beyond the one being prayed for to others who are party to the situation.   Improvement may be physical or physiological or even psychological.  It may involve the discovery of a new treatment or procedure or even the increased ability of the doctors or others involved with the prayee.  Whatever the result(s), if the prayee progresses to a better state, then the power of prayer worked positively.

In the end, the belief in the power of prayer is an individual one.  There has been and possibly will never be empirical evidence to prove or disprove the theory.  But if it does exist, then we are remiss in not taking advantage of it.  As for me, I will continue to pray and believe that in some small way my invocations are making a difference.