Does God answer prayer? Yes, he does . . . according to a report published in Research on Social Work Practice (March 2007). Arizona State University Professor David S. Hodge scrutinized 17 previously published studies on the effects of intercessory prayer. He concluded: “Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective.” He cautioned that prayer was not so potent that the sick or suffering should discard medicine and rely on prayer alone. Nevertheless, he contended that “praying for people with psychological or medical problems may help them recover.”

Prayer is not a proof

Has Christian faith in the power of prayer been bolstered by Hodge’s analysis? Not at all. His surveys included praying persons of various religions—certainly not an endorsement of true Christian prayer. His findings acknowledged only some unknown power or transcendent being—not specifically the God of the Bible.

A rival $2.4 million study examined the results of prayer on behalf of cardiac patients. It concluded that intercessory prayer had no positive effects on complication-free recovery from coronary bypass surgery. In fact, persons who knew that people were praying for them were more likely to experience post-surgery problems than those who were unaware about prayers being offered (American Heart Journal, April 2006).

Experiments seeking to prove prayer useless need not rattle Christians. Neither should research claiming to confirm prayer’s success reinforce Christians. Why would we resort to pseudo-scientific measurements of observable data as evidence of God’s benevolence? “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Do we believe in God because God gives visible, affirmative answers to each of our prayers? If that were so, we’d need to abandon faith when our requests were denied.

Television mogul Ted Turner did exactly that as a young man. Deeply spiritual and planning to become a missionary, Turner turned his back on God at age 15 because God did not grant his petitions to spare the life of his younger sister. Turner’s example is a cautionary tale. We do not believe in God less when he denies our requests. Nor should we think that getting what we want is a reason to believe in God more.