"I'll pray for you."

[Tonus]

Studies that show that prayers don't work.....
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&...3060,d.aGc

Of course, if you can show otherwise.........

Most theists that I know apply the idea that prayer always works, but it may not work as the person praying expected it to. The result is that any prayer to any deity "works." You simply adjust your understanding to the outcome:

- You got what you prayed for: god answered your prayer.
- You did not get what you prayed for: god answered your prayer by providing what you needed, which was different from what you thought you needed (or simply what you wanted).

Studies that attempt to test the efficacy of prayer will therefore end with one of two results and reactions:

- The study shows no link: you cannot test god that way. Or god answered prayers, but the results can't be tallied scientifically.
- The study shows a link: proof that god answers prayers.

The belief in an afterlife where all accounts are settled equitably by a being who personifies perfect justice means that anything that happens in the here and now can be god's will. Therefore, any outcome of prayer can be god's will and have a happy ending, even if there is any (or a lot) of suffering in the interim.