Prayer is the basic practice of any active follower of Christ. It is the bread and butter of the Christian faith – Moses prayed, Elijah prayed; even Jesus and the apostles prayed. It is so baked into the tradition to a point where it seems sacrilegious to question whether prayer works. Of course it does! Just look at all the times God faithfully responds to the prayers of His servants!

He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. (1 Kings 17:20-22 NRSVUE)

He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (Mark 7:33-35 NRSVUE)

Yet, as I grow older, I find myself revisiting this question. One major stimulus that caused me to revisit my thoughts on this question came from a product of growing old: seeing people and pets succumb to age and illness.

Cancer. Miscarriages. Ailments. You name it. Such is life.

In my church, we have a tradition where we will dedicate a day in the week to gather after work and pray for the ill and weary. Long ago, I attended one of these sessions because I heard a couple within our congregation was undergoing complications with their expecting child. As the session proceeded, I could experience their passion and fervor in the congregation’s belief in God’s power to heal, and I could see how unified everyone was as they prayed for the couple. Altogether, it was extremely moving to hear the prayers of the community as they laid their hands on the couple, passionately and sincerely asking for God to intervene and grant them a healthy child.

While I agree there’s a lot of social benefits in keeping such traditions, the most important question at the back of my head was whether such prayers worked.

What does it mean for a prayer to “work”?

Anyone who explores this question online is bound to encounter a variety of answers. Most of the answers that affirms the power of prayer to “work” fall under one of these categories:

• Some adamantly insist prayer works – if it doesn’t, you’re doing something wrong.
• Others insist God is always working, but it doesn’t necessary translate to answered prayers for a variety of reasons (maybe God has bigger plans, or works in hidden ways). This is often accompanied by warnings not to expect God to answer directly or clearly (“God is not a genie”).
• Some think prayers are our way of communicating with God and downplay the importance of the outcome.
• Finally, it was also very common to see sources redefine what a “working” prayer entails

To be honest, I never found any of these answers truly satisfying. In this scenario, when I prayed for God to bring healing, I want God to heal. If the healing did not occur, the prayer did not work. Simple as that. When someone asks whether prayer works, the person shouldn’t need to clarify: “Does prayer work to mitigate the outcome of this ailment so that the patient makes a recovery?” Surely the latter clause is implied in everyday conversation!

I don’t find it helpful when people try to sugarcoat the issue (perhaps God has better plans) or shift the goalposts to evade the most direct answer (we can’t see it but I’m sure God is working behind the scenes). I also find it distracting when people steer the conversation to frame prayers’ purpose as a means of communication with God, because they are uncomfortable to confront and comment on the fact that the prayer did not work. Nor do I find it helpful when the conversation is steered to reinforce God’s faithful nature to avoid facing the uncomfortable truth when the healing doesn’t happen.

Suppose your friend introduced you to someone (let’s call him Jeff) who agreed to look after your kids while you are away. You have not met Jeff before, but your friend swears that Jeff is faithful to his promises and will show up at the agreed times. For the first week, he backed out at the last minute. The second; he ghosts you. On the subsequent week, he claims to have double-booked himself and does not show up. Would you consider Jeff reliable in any measure?

If not, why do we give excuses for God when He does not intervene at crucial moments of our lives (like literally when life or death is at stake)? Shouldn’t God’s reliability be held to a higher standard than mortals?

Objectively, does prayer work…to mitigate the outcome of ailments so that the patient makes a recovery?

Interestingly, the efficacy of prayer has been examined in a small number of peer-reviewed studies. The lack of studies isn’t surprising given the sheer amount of religious, ethical and scientific landmines one must navigate through for such studies to be approved.

The gold standard for testing the efficacy of medical interventions is the double-blind randomized controlled trial, and the few such trials in the literature report mixed results (see here for the full review). In this review, the authors compiled a single study on 219 infertile women that found those who received prayer experienced greater pregnancy rates, and another non-human study that found prayer improved wound recovery in Galagos (a ridiculously cute, small primate). On the flipside, three other studies with sample sizes >100 found no improvements in cardiovascular outcomes, percutaneous coronary interventions nor infections caused by immunodeficiency. Most concerningly, a triple-blind study on patients’ recovery after a coronary artery bypass graft found that slightly more patients who was unknowingly prayed for experienced complications, compared to the control group (no prayer). While most of these studies were not delivering purely Christian prayers, the last study with the slightly negative results implemented prayers solely from Christian organizations. Judging solely by carefully designed medical trials alone, it is clear that even if prayer did “work”, its effect is so miniscule that it is statistically indistinguishable from pure chance, and resembles nothing like the miraculous outcomes seen in Scriptures.

Closing thoughts

So, does prayer work?

I personally have mixed feelings about the efficacy of prayer. On one hand, stories of miraculous healings do pop up from time to time, and I would like to believe some of them were ordained by God as loved one prayed fervently to call upon His name. At the same time, attempts to objectively observe prayers’ efficacy (if any) have largely fallen flat. Is it because the power of prayer isn’t something that can be scrutinized? Is it something about the way these prayers were being conducted in these studies that stunt their efficacy? Or are we forced to confront the harsh truth that prayer just doesn’t work consistently enough to bring healing? It’s impossible to say.

Back to my experience with the couple above. The prayers didn’t work…

Still, I don’t think that prayer session was for naught. I saw firsthand how everyone bonded together in the face of life’s troubles. I saw fervent hope in dark times. I could feel genuine concern from the congregation, and genuine gratitude and vulnerability from the couple who openly shared their testimony. These are all things that strengthen the unity of the church in ways that words can’t describe. And I think that’s what makes Christian living attractive and beautiful.

At the same time, I don’t see a need to go through mental loops to insist that prayer works, even when it doesn’t. Such efforts are unhelpful at best, and insensitive and dishonest at worst. As long as we are on Earth, believers or otherwise, we are subject to tragedies that aren’t easily explainable. And it is perfectly ok to admit to ourselves and to others that we don’t have answers to why things didn’t turn out the way we prayed for. In my view, prayer is the rawest form of human expression that admits things are beyond our control. Yet, we can find peace and hope without having all the answers (or making up an answer).

Maybe prayer doesn’t work to invoke God to heal or manifest what we want. But it definitely works to give the human heart a voice to sincerely call out to Him. That’s good enough for me, and I’m content to leave the rest to Him.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NRSVUE)