Statistically does prayer work?

Question

If a man goes to the doctors to get an opperation and the doctors says they have a 50/50 chance of making it out alive, the number dont change if the person prays.
So
Do you thing prayer really works, dont give a personal example because that could be a one time thing( like hitting the lottery). I want to see a mathimatical proof of this.

Answer 1

Of course prayer works, if done correctly. If you get what you want, god was being good to you. If you don't, you didn't pray correctly, or long enough, or ... (pick something). Looked at in this light, prayer is nonsense.

Answer 2

Yes, Prayer always works. It's not always answered quite the way I expect but it is answered and the end result is always what was requested.
Prayer is not something you can put a statistic on as it requires, first - faith, that there is someone there on the other end who will answer the prayer.
second - a righteous desire of the heart being requested
third - patience that it will be answered in Gods time, not ours.
fourth - paying attention to what transpires over the next week or so after the prayer, and recognizing the answer for what it is, when it comes.
fifth - sometimes , whether we like it or not and in regards for what is actually best for us in the long run, - The answer is no.

Answer 3

A few years ago, a hospital did a study on this. They selected patients and devided them into two groups.
They had people with the same identical terminal illnesses at the very same stage and ages, etc.

They brought a small group of average people in to pray for only one of the groups.

The group of people that were prayed for daily for several weeks, had a substantially higher survival rate than the people did, that were not prayed for.
I wish I could remember the exact percentages but I don't remember.

I DO remember that it was overwhelming and surprising to the doctors.

I have noticed over the years in articles that I've read, that praying for ourselves doesn't work as well as when we pray for others.

Very interesting!

Answer 4

How can anyone prove it one way or another. If a man goes in for surgery and has a 10% chance of living, and his family and church family pray over him before hand, and pray for him during the surgery, and he makes it was it the prayer or the doctor? Or maybe just luck?

If a woman has test run and is told she has cancer for sure but they want to run a few more test to see how far it has spread, and her church prays over her and her name is put on prayer lists and people pray, when she has the tests and they show the cancer is gone, how do we know it is prayer and not just a faulty initial test?

If a child is sick with cancer and people pray and she dies anyway, doesn't that prove God either isn't real or doesn't answer prayers? No, it just means He has a greater plan.

Look around, how many scientists have dedicated their lives to finding cures because of the death of a loved one? How many parents have lost a child to drugs and started anti drug legislation rallies or educational programs? How many parents of kidnapped children have gone on to save others? In my state we have the Amber Alert because someone lost their daughter. It saves children from the same fate. If her mother prayed, maybe it wasn't that God wasn't listening but that He had a bigger and more amazing plan for her.

Sometimes horrible things happen, but often from them people step up and show the greatness humans are capable of, we show a truely Christian heart, whether we are believers or not. God is all about relationships, He wants us to know Him, to believe in good times and in bad. To pray, but to accept His will. Even Jesus prayed that if there was some way in Gods plan for Him to be spared to please allow it, but He added "not my will but yours" because He knew God's plan is greater than any of us can imagine.

I know this isn't some math equation, but I hope it helps.

Answer 5

Guys, don't complain because life doesn't come out like you wanted it too. I want this person to die 1. isn't a prayer, and 2. is not made for the right reason. All prayer is successful and all prayer is answered just not always in the way you want it to be.

Answer 6

Absolutely not. Numerous studies have all had the same results. Improbable events happen no more frequently than can be accounted for statistically, and are distributed randomly with no correlation to religious belief. One or two studies which were released prematurely by religious organizations because they seemed to indicate positive results were shown to be flawed and, therefore, invalid. Since far more effort was put into 'jumping the gun' that the subsequent retraction, many religious people still have that misconception.

Answer 7

There are too many variables to be able to "prove" prayer statistically or mathematically. It apparently does work in certain circumstances and for certain people. The question becomes "Why?"

Some variables:

*Which God/Deity/Entity is prayed to
*For what purpose
*By whom
*In what condition

I have experienced answered prayers, though not every prayer, and not every time...But I've NEVER won the lottery...I'd say prayer has better odds.

Answer 8

Well, this is what I think, prayer does work. Sometimes, when you pray, you're not going to be happy with the answer you get. Sometimes, you can pray all you want about the person who's dying in the hospital but if Jesus says it's time for him or her to go, then it's time for them to go. I have plenty of personal experiences..no "one time thing" here.

Be Blessed.

Answer 9

Studies point both ways...which tells me that it's purely by chance when prayer does work. In fact, a study done on heart patients (just google heart patients and prayer and the study should come up) showed that when a person knew they were being prayed for they did worse.

Answer 10

If you believed in God and followed what God said to do you would understand God is God not a genie. When we pray it is for God' will/want to be done. That we want to serve God & his purpose.

A Christian in that circumstance should pray: Lord please forgive me of my sins, and thank you Jesus for sacrificing yourself for so that I might have eternal life through you. Lord you know what I am going through, I pray that your will be done. I pray Lord that you might spare my physical life, for even a while longer, for I know physical death is inevitable, but if that does not serve your purpose, I will gladly come to join you. For you have a plan and though I may not be able to see how I fit in, that doesn’t mean that I don’t. And my deepest desire even more than keeping my physical life is that your will be done. In Jesus’ name Amen.

True believers give their life to the cause. Unfortunately there is no mathematical proof of the power of prayer, but believers will tell you it works. I will attest to that, myself. But unless you are praying for what God wants your prayer will not be heard!

Answer 11

Actually, Diane Saywer had a special that indicated people who are religious have much higher cure rates than those who are not. Have their prayers been answered or do they experience lower stress levels because of their belief? Either way, they are better off.