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by Rottweiler on November 7th, 2006

Rottweiler

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If God doesn't exist, why does prayer work?

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Answers. 21 helpful answers below.

  • by anonymous on November 7th, 2006

    anonymous

    Ok, I'm athiest ( I know what most of you are think, boo hiss! But who cares!) How can you say prayer works? I mean, something you hoped for happens, oh wait, it MUST be the prayer you said?! How about all the times you pray for something, and it doesn't happen? Even though I do not have a faith myself, I believe faith can be a good thing, don't get me wrong. But why is it that things can't just be a random thing which turns out to be for the better?

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  • by ptrask on November 30th, 2006

    ptrask

    Your assumption that prayer works is not borne out by any empirical evidence. In fact, I recently read a study done of recovering heart attack patients at Boston University Medical center. What they found was that the majority of patients who were the focus of a prayer group had worse long-term outcomes than those patients who were not prayed for. Based on this evidence, you could state "empirical evidence supports that prayer can be harmful to your health." Now, do I really believe that prayer is harmful to a person's health? No. However, I also believe that it has no positive effect on health either. If I pray to some god to win the lottery, and I don't win, does that mean prayer doesn't work? Or does it mean that I'm not worthy of winning the lottery? Or does it mean that I am not worthy of that god's attention? Or does it mean that prayer is only meant for things that some religious group defines as a worthy reason?

    Now, do I believe that there is something that can be done with words to enforce the positive in my life? Yes. Back in the 1970s, a children's cancer clinic in California experimented with "guided visualization". They took young children who were "beyond help" and for whom all conventional methods of treatment had been exhausted. They sat down with these children on a daily basis for a session of guided visualization. They had the children close their eyes and imagine toy soldiers marching into their bodies to fight a battle with the cancer cells. What they found was that a significant number of the children had an improvement in condition or went into remission.

    If you wanted to, I suppose you could call that prayer. To the little toy soldier gods.

    I just wanted to let you all know, that anonymously downrating this answer will NOT make your prayers come true!

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  • by AntigoneRising on November 7th, 2006

    AntigoneRising

    The answer to this depends upon whether or not you actually believe that prayer works. Those who do not believe God exists generally do not believe that prayer works. Others accept that it probably works because you spend time thinking about your problems and what you need. This results in a psychological change that makes you more likely to achieve what you need. It also can be seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy wherein you believe something is going to happen, so it does. (You make it happen.) For prayers about physical health, this could be compared to a placebo effect. Another explanation is sheer coincidence.

    Personally, I believe that prayers work, but probably for a vastly different reason than you (Rottweiler) do.

    Everytime I state what I believe out here, it is nothing more than an invitation to people to rate me down. I'm not sure I wanna play that game, but I do want to answer you. Lemme think about it for a minute.

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  • by mrbalaam on January 22nd, 2008

    mrbalaam

    because thought can have an effect on reality.

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  • by Azraff on November 7th, 2006

    Azraff

    I think something exists, some prime force or progenitor. If not, why are things mostly good? Why are there beautiful trees and animals, a beautiful earth. When we get up the sun shines, the rain falls. So, if you don't want to call it God, that's o.k. Our mind is a creative force, so if we focus on an intent,prayer being a form of intent, it creates it.

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  • by SABOTEUR on January 22nd, 2008

    SABOTEUR

    God doesn't micro-manage.

    He programmed the system so that prayers are answered whenever certain conditions are met.

    He doesn't need to be on call 24/7 to listen to our whiny crap.

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  • by Elleonora on November 30th, 2006

    Elleonora

    maybe because people believe in themself more when they have prayed for something? maybe they worry less?

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  • by Lady Justice on August 11th, 2008

    Lady Justice

    Dude prayer never works and when it does you say there is a God. What you are doing is tricking yourself into believing due to the coincidence. That is all it is.... a coincidence. Just because there was a five dollar bill on the ground doesn't mean that there is an all loving God that wanted you to buy some candy. Don't you think he would've gave it to the poor who are PRAYING FOR MONEY? Come on! How about houses for the homeless veterans? What about the gays? Let me guess God doesn't like the icky gays? What happened to justice and equality? Also the people who pray for their sick ones. Like dying parents with cancer for example. Some people have prayed to God to remove their friends or family of cancer but then they die? Then what happens? Right! They trick themselfs further into believing that it was yet again Gods plan to kill your friend or family member. Also do remember their are people in this world that have prayed to God not to die. Guess what happened? They died! Also there are people of this world that have prayed for no war. Guess what happened? War had begun. You see prayer does nothing. Actually getting up and going outside and talking to the people causing the conflict would actually do something rather than praying to some guy that may not exist. You are simply turing coincidences into God. That doesn't provide evidence at all.

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  • by LarryH54 on August 11th, 2008

    LarryH54

    Why indeed?!

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  • by slothmister on January 22nd, 2008

    slothmister

    It doesn't :)

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  • by The Reverend Soleil on January 22nd, 2008

    The Reverend Soleil

    The short answer is: it doesn't -- at least, not any more often than random chance.

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  • by Anonymous on November 7th, 2006

    Anonymous

    who say god doesnit exist

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  • by Marky Mark on January 9th, 2012

    Marky Mark

    Ask an atheist Buddhist why they pray.

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  • by aiar on January 9th, 2012

    aiar

    Pray shut up (have I succeeded?)

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  • by Czar_K on January 9th, 2012

    Czar_K

    If any God answered people's prayers it would show in the statistics and believers would be entitled to lower insurance costs or insurance companies would ask subscribers proof of their (correct) religious spirit and devotion, fund churches and organize praying sessions for their subscribers.

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  • by grumpyt on November 30th, 2006

    grumpyt

    well why are you praying if ya dont believe he exists? well my prayers get answered because he DOES EXIST

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  • by leetmeat on November 19th, 2007

    leetmeat

    95% of people that get lung cancer die within 2 years of being diagnosed. 20 people have lung cancer, they all pray, and 19 of them die. The last one claims prayer is what saved his life.

    Let's not even get into how praying has never caused anyone to regenerate a severed limb or anything of the sort.

    So simply, no. Prayer does nothing but make yourself feel better about your situation. I guess that in itself can be a good thing at times. But blinding yourself of reality in favor of an imaginary higher being and existence that there has never been an iota of proof for seems pretty futile. In the end reality will finally catch up to you. Even the man that claims prayer saved him from whatever aliment he was suffering from eventually dies of something.

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  • by dantone on November 23rd, 2007

    dantone

    In Dawkin's "The God Delusion", he tells of a scientifically controlled experiment to answer your question. It was sponsored by the American Templeton Foundation, an ultra religious body. Its findings were conclusive, prayer (to whatever god you please) just makes no difference at all. Prayer asks a deity to suspend the laws of nature all on your behalf. Ask yourself "is this likely?

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  • by Zibeltor on November 22nd, 2007

    Zibeltor

    If God doesn't exists, prayer "works" in the same sense that a psychosomatic illness affects an individual. The "sugar-pill" effect. People tend to underestimate the power of the mind to influence an individual's reality.

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  • by odel on November 20th, 2007

    odel

    By using the staggering magical power of wishful thinking.

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  • by ThatGuyTed on February 16th, 2010

    ThatGuyTed

    To simply say God snwered a prayer is to ignore the cause and effect the rest of the physical world has on you. Just because your prayer was anwered dosen't mean God answered it.

    But I will not deny others wishing me well either by prayer or by any other wishing ceremony does make me feel like I have friends who support me, and that does help encourage me to do my best.

    Don't get me wrong: I believe in God and the sacrifice Jesus made. I just don't believe that God has its hands in the minutae of human life. I think a father figure creator would want its creation to grow and learn how to solve thier own problems, rather that cry to daddy every time we stub our toe.

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