So, my friend Gary raised this question over breakfast a couple of days ago. Now, this is a guy who may pray more than anyone I know. He does it first thing every morning and it isn’t the kind of praying which lasts a few moments or minutes. (I think he’s missed like two mornings in fifteen years.) Nor is it some formulaic deal where he repeats the same mantra every day. This is his quiet ritual conversation with God, whereby he must bring up the joys and challenges of dozens of people he knows or has heard about. Dozens. He keeps a spreadsheet so he won’t forget anyone. This is also the guy who leads a thing called intercessory prayer with a large group of hardcore prisoners every Monday. Of course, he also prays throughout the day.

And, he asked me to consider why or how prayer actually works. Now, that’s integrity.

A lot of people far more gifted than I have thought about, studied and written tons on this question and I’m not even going to try tackling it in any depth. If you’re reading this, that should make you happy. I know these posts can go on way too long.

I answered his question right away with a question in return, “So, you mean like why … with hundreds of loving people praying last year for Shannon and me … both of us turning gravely ill at about the same time … both of us committed Jesus-followers … did Shannon die and I was miraculously healed? You mean like that?” And he said, “exactly.”

Gary had prayed his heart out for Shannon, without ever meeting her. As he does daily for Susan. What’s the deal? Does God really answer prayers? Does God sort of look up from his business and say, “Yeah, I think I’m going to grant that one. But, nah, I don’t think I want to grant that other one.” What kind of calculus is going on here?

It’s interesting. For the atheist, this is just stupid incantation. We might as well be thinking we’re Samantha, on the old TV show, Bewitched. You know, wiggle your nose and, poof! Gets a lot of laughs and maybe a few “I kinda wish I could do that.” But, we know it’s just fantasy. For some who may not know what to believe, prayer can’t hurt. Maybe we’re all connected by some energy field and, just maybe, that energy field/universe will respond in some positive way. A lot of people don’t mind when you ask them whether you can pray for them if they’re facing something difficult. Some, however, are offended.

On the opposite end are those we (in the prayer business) call Prayer Warriors. And, I tell you, they are something to behold. I’m not talking the televangelist caricature. These folks have deep empathy and connection with people and lives around them and are pretty constantly giving voice to the things that matter. What hearts of love they have! What capacity to see beyond themselves as they take a back seat to “lift up” so many others.

So, what’s actually going on? Does prayer actually mean something? Does it change things? Does it affect outcomes?

I fundamentally believe the answer to each of these three questions is, yes. Prayer does have meaning. Prayer does change things. And, prayer does affect outcomes. However, exactly how that works and exactly what the impact is, is up for debate.

On second thought, maybe I’ll try tackling this a bit more at some point. We’ll have to see. In the meantime, I love the question. We might all benefit from asking the question and then searching for some kind of answer. After all, either prayer works or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, then we are just wasting time. If it does, then maybe we need to consider what “works” means. Because, if there’s something to it, then it’s probably not a waste of time.

Now, I know that Gary believes prayer works. But I respect the question. Our faith after all, relies on reason and it’s reasonable to question its many tenets.

Like every Friday morning, our Little Band of Believers was deeply in prayer a couple of hours ago. Like every Friday morning, there was a lot of laughter and our share of tears. Of course prayer works. Amen