What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Sword of Christ]

Ever seen people throw salt over their shoulder after spilling it? Knock on wood for luck? Carry lucky totems, such as rabbits' feet, four leaf clovers, horse shoes etc? Walk around ladders rather than under them? Cross their fingers?

Superstitions? Sure yes, I don't do anything like that myself. Well ok I may salute the odd magpie to cancel the bad luck but I'm trying to stop myself from doing that. Walking around ladders is a better idea anyway as something could drop onto you or the ladder could collapse with you under it.

Read up on how someone else imagines the positions of the planets relative to certain background stars dictates their actions?

Astrology? Horoscopes are a load of cobblers certainly that generally just consists of making a number of general statements that can be apply to anyone. The higher level occult mystical/Kabbalist stuff is interesting though it's all a bit metaphorical and symbolic of inner self than a means of telling the future.

When these and many, many other superstitious rituals are assessed critically, we find that the results of them are indistinguishable from blind chance. Realising they are imaginary doesn't stop people from doing them. It doesn't even slow them down.

If you're talking about prayer it does very definitely have a direct physical effect on an individual than science can observe certainly, it isn't some kind of a superstition. They have been studies on the brain scans of someone in prayer. What tends to be stimulated here are the regions of the brain associated with consciousness such as the temporal lobes and the areas of the brain associated with bodily and spacial awareness begin to shut down. It's somewhat similar to Buddhist mediation as well there is something called contemplative prayer in Christianity which runs along very similar lines. The main difference is that the aim is to partake of God as a distinct separate entity to yourself rather than merge into him and become part of God yourself. Only one man in Christianity was a part of God as you know.

In the case of prayer, however, things get worse.

When prayer was studied by the pro-religionist Templeton Foundation, measuring any effects against heart bypass patients in double-blind tests, it was found that the only patients who experienced complications were those being prayed for and were told about it. All other groups recovered at about the expected rate. Presumably, lying in a hospital bed awaiting major surgery isn't the best time to hear someone say "I'm going to pray for you", unless the intended response is "Oh shit - they think I'm not gonna make it... what else aren't they telling me?"

That would be spiritual healing not prayer you're really talking about. Obviously that is possible seeing as Jesus, his disciples and various Christian Saints have been able to do this and some people outside the Christian faith as well. It's been very widely reported throughout history. How common it is for people to be able to do this I'm not sure but I think you would have to be spiritually advanced to some very level. Just having any old random person say a few well meaning words on your behalf won't do anything, they would have to at the very least lay their hands upon you and channel something. Jesus was apparently able to do this remotely without being physically present but we can safely say he was something of an exceptional case.

Not a very reasonable or logical way of approaching reality.

You believe what you don't think is true? You may as well say it's better to be a married bachelor.