Prayers work in the sense that they can help calm you down, collect your thoughts and make you feel as if you are accomplishing something. Prayers are a coping mechanism that the human race has developed in order to help get through tragedies or to remain humble while going through a rare patch of good luck.

But prayers do not work in the sense that you are talking to a Deity and it somehow responds to your pleas. This is because there is no God that interacts with human beings on an individual basis. If there happens to be a Deity that does interact with human beings on an individual basis, then this is a capricious, evil force that delights in random cruelty.

The Big Three's Perspective

The three biggest religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - all teach that God answers prayer in three ways - "Yes", "No" or "Wait a while". Although there are many denominations and factions within those big three, they all generally encourage the faithful to pray.

Prayer is a form of meditation, where you take some time out to try and make sense of the world. Meditation is known to have many benefits for the physical and emotional health of the body. Prayer gives a feeling that the individual is not cut off from everything else in the world.

In this sense, the big three are correct. More and more, science is showing what aboriginal peoples have known all along - that we are all a part of something bigger than ourselves. That something is usually Nature or the continuity of a family line. We are all a part of the world, which is definitely bigger than ourselves. Prayer is good in reminding us that we are not the center of the universe.

The Practical Perspective

You're driving along in your car at the speed limit. The vehicle in front of you suddenly brakes. You hear the blast of a huge horn. You look up to the rear view mirror and see it fill up with Mack truck. Of course, you are frantically praying that you will not be hit.

Forget it. The laws of physics still apply even under the most sincere of prayers from the most devout. Brace for impact and hope some kind passer-by will call for an ambulance. Even then, that kind passer-by is not an answer to prayer. That kind passer-by stopped to help because that person chose to help. God or Goddess had nothing to do with it.

Of course, if God or Goddess really loved you, then you wouldn't have gotten hit by a Mack truck in the first place. Your being helped after the accident was because others reached out, knowing they were a part of something bigger - the Earth - and helping you ultimately helped themselves. Prayer and God are nowhere near as powerful as empathy and charity.

Learn more about this author, Rena Sherwood.
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