DOES GOD ANSWER OUR PRAYERS?

The media has recently reported on a scientific study that calls into question the efficacy of intercessory prayers for the sick.  When I heard about that, I wonder how such a study could even be controlled to produce reliable results (beyond the obvious problem of dealing with God's inscrutability).  The American Phoenix has written a fine piece on just that topic and notes some of methodological issues to be considered, among other things:

There are also, of course, several scientific limitations to studies of this type that should not be ignored, including:

• The difficulty of obtaining "pure" control groups in such research.  For example, in prayer studies, particularly those involving very ill patients, the controls who are not being experimentally prayed for or sent healing intentions as part of the study are likely to nonetheless receive prayers and positive mental intentions from friends, loved ones, and others. The same is also true for the prayer group, in addition to the control group.
• Insufficient sample sizes in the studies to date.  Most of these studies have been conducted with only a few hundred volunteers.
• The lack of controls for psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, sense of control, and self-efficacy which are known to be factors in physical outcomes.
• The lack of an appropriate objective measure to determine the degree of a person's religious convictions.

In addition to the scientific limitations, there are also philosophical/theological limitations to such studies.

• It cannot be known how or even whether God will act in a particular situation.  If we assume that God answers every prayer, aren't we turning God into some automaton who does our will and not His own?
• A negative outcome may not necessarily mean that a prayer has not been answered.
• The assumption that a benevolent God would respond only to the prayers of or on behalf of persons in the treatment group, when many persons in the control group will probably pray for themselves and will be prayed for by friends and loved ones.  Most Christians don't believe that God cares only for those who pray.
• The assumption that a compassionate God who intends the well-being of all humankind responds only to the needs of those who pray or are prayed for.  In the Christian milieu, atheists are also children of God.  God's grace is not distributed only to Christians.
• These studies only concern intercessory prayer - prayer as a request.  They do not cover the prayer of the Eucharist, prayers of adoration, prayers of thanksgiving or any other type of prayer.  Thus, notions of prayer as contained in these studies are extremely limited.

Read the entire article.  It's well worth it.