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 | Some see every rock, tree, stream, mountain as having a spirit who can be contacted through prayer and other religious rituals. These are Animists. |
| Some believe that God created the universe, wound it up, set it in motion, left our vicinity, and hasn't been seen since. This is the Deist position, which was very popular among the framers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. It is a rapidly growing religion today. Most Deists consider prayer to be non-productive, except that it perhaps helps us organize our thoughts. |
| Some believe that God is remote, and can only be contacted through intercessors -- perhaps human clerics or deceased saints. |
| Some believe that God indwells the body of each believer. They do not view their faith as a religion; rather, they see it as a personal relationship with God. |
| There are many other specific beliefs about deity held by followers of different religions. |
What people believe about prayer:
One common belief that links believers from many of the hundreds of theistic religions around the world is that one or more deities exist as a living, conscious person or persons concerned about individual humans and who can be approached through prayer. Belief in prayer, along with some expression of an Ethic of Reciprocity (The Golden Rule), are the two common features found in essentially all theistic faith groups.
A common belief among Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, some Deists, etc. is that there is, or probably is, no deity who listens or responds to prayers. Prayers are useful in that they can help the individual sort out priorities, and give them a sense of reassurance. But the still quite voice that people hear during prayer comes from within their own minds, not from any supernatural being. Prayers are also useful, in that people who know that they are the subject of other people's prayers often feel comforted. But their reassurance comes from knowing that they are being prayed for, not from any direct effect of the prayer.
Scientists are at a loss to explain how prayer could work. None of the known forces or processes in the universe appears to be capable of linking a person's brain directly to a deity, even if such a supernatural entity could be found to exist.
Why people pray:
People might pray for many reasons:
| To seek guidance from God on a specific topic or problem in their
life:
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| To assess the will of God on a theological matter:
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| To enjoy a time of companionship with God:
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| To give thanks to God for all that he has done for them.
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| To demonstrate respect for God:
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| To find out what God's expectations are:
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| To ask God for help -- for him to alter or direct the future in a
certain way:
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Results of public opinion polls:
| According to a Gallup Organization, the vast majority of those who pray "seek guidance [from God] for decisions" 1 that are before them. | ||||||||||||||
| A Beliefnet/Newsweek poll conducted in 2005-AUG asked 1,004 randomly selected American adults about their religious beliefs. One of the
questions was: "What do you think is the most important purpose of prayer?" Results were:
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| The same Beliefnet/Newsweek poll also asked people how often they pray.
Results were:
The margin of error of the Beliefnet/Newsweek poll is ±3 percentage points. |
References used:
- George Gallup, Jr., "Poll releases: As nation observes National Day of Prayer, 9 in 10 pray -- 3 in 4 daily," 1999-MAY-6, at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr990506.asp Unfortunately, the Gallup Organization now restricts public access to its historical data base. It is now only available to subscribers to the Gallup Organization's "Tuesday's Briefing."
- "Newsweek/Beliefnet Poll Results," Beliefnet.com, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/
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Home page > Christianity > Christian history, etc > Prayer > here |
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Copyright © 2001 to 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-OCT-12
Latest update: 2005-SEP-07
Author: B.A. Robinson
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