Prayer: Talking to Yourself?

I recently read a quote from a man who claimed to be God. How did he know he was God? When he prayed, he said, he was talking to himself.

Many of us have asked ourselves, "Is prayer rational?" For me, it's only rational in the context of faith, which is rational overall despite the lack of scientific evidence. For me, prayer sometimes feels empty. Usually, it's satisfying, and rarely, it's awesome.You experience an intimacy with God that gives you a brief, fleeting sense of who he/she is and who you are, putting everything in perspective. You can be entirely yourself and let it all hang out. You can get a sense of well-being, of being grounded, no matter what happens in your unpredictable and sometimes scary life.

One of my most frequent prayers is, "Help me see things as they really are." (I know. For an unbeliever, this is the model of irony.)

I understand the problem for skeptics. At least once a year, I make a retreat at New Melleray Abbey in Peosta, near Dubuque, Ia. The monks there belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance but are referred to as Trappists because of the name of one of their monasteries in France. (See http://www.newmelleray.org.) They've made a career of praying, and some may think of their lives as complete wastes. They spend hours at prayer every day. They rise daily at 3:15 a.m. and go to their first common prayer 15 minutes later.

Does prayer make any difference?
For centuries, contemplative monks have spent day-in, day-out pleading, begging, appealing to a God who is silent. Where were the answers to their prayers when millions were being slaughtered by the Nazis? Where was God when in 2011 terrorists killed thousands at the World Trade Center, in Washington, D.C. and in a field in Pennsylvania? Where was he/she when Mexican gangsters beheaded and mutilated the people whose 49 bodies were found just months ago on a highway near Monterey? Has all the monks pleading made a bit of difference in the world? Has it stopped one murder, one rape, one incidence of human exploitation?

The honest answer is, we don't know. It is possible that other, similarly horrible incidents didn't occur because of prayer. And it's possible that these horrors, were it not for prayer, would have been even worse. It's also possible that many kindnesses occur as a result of prayer, that many lives are saved and many broken hearts mended.

Some people aren't going to be moved by these possibles. It's possible the moon is made of cheese, they might say. Truth is, prayer makes little sense to many people.

That's because you can't design an experiment to show that God answers prayers. Judging by the unimaginable immensity of the universe, I don't believe a God who got it all going would subject himself/herself to one of our puny experiments. But apart from whether God answers prayers is the equally important question of whether prayer benefits us.

Studies on prayer
Lots of studies have shown it does. One of the most thorough was a 1999 study by psychologists at Sheffield Hallam University in England (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/516350.stm). It examined the experiences of 251 men and 223 women between the ages of 18 and 29. It found that the frequency with which both men and women prayed was closely related to fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Also, those who prayed were less likely to be mentally ill, and had higher self-esteem. (People shouldn't substitute prayer for mental health treatment, of course.)

For me, this is among the most interesting findings: "Those in the study who attended church for social reasons only tended to be more depressed."

Ok, so praying may be good for your mental health (which also means good for your physical health). But so may be sleeping with a teddy bear, but that doesn't mean I should do it (apologies to those who do). Praying should be a matter of some conviction, which supposes a minimum degree of faith. What I'm saying is that praying makes sense in the context of faith, and those who have some degree of faith should do it. In fact, praying for faith is a good idea.

Sincere religious people don't advertise the extent to which they pray, so people who haven't done much of it may feel they're doing something a little "weird" or out of the ordinary when they attempt it. Fact is, according to a 2009 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 58 percent of Americans pray every day.

Most of them probably don't believe they're talking to themselves.

For help on praying, see http://www.sacredspace.ie, and please provide your family and friends with the address of this blog, www.skepticfaith.blogspot.com.

TC