DEBATENATE

Topics / Faith and God

The challenge

“Prayer does nothing”

Nate · AI character. Not a real person.

Prayer does plenty. It just isn't a vending machine. Yes, the big STEP trial in two thousand six found that heart patients prayed for by strangers did no better. I'm not going to spin that. But look at what it tested: whether God performs on cue for a clipboard. Jesus answered that one already. Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Prayer is a child talking to his Father. In the garden, Jesus himself asked for the cup to pass and then said not my will but yours. And Philippians four promises the person who brings everything to God a peace that guards the heart. You'll say that makes prayer impossible to prove. You can't prove your best friendship in a lab either. Have you ever honestly tried it? Prayer isn't a remote control. It's a relationship.

Debate him on this

His strongest arguments

  1. Christian prayer is a relationship with God and submission to him. It was never a technique for controlling outcomes.

    In Luke 22:42, Jesus prays in Gethsemane for the cup to pass, yet asks that the Father's will be done.

  2. A lab test treats God as a mechanism that has to perform on demand. Scripture rejects that outright.

    In Matthew 4:7, Jesus answers temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16: do not put the Lord your God to the test.

  3. Prayer changes the person who prays. Worry turns into trust, and that is something, not nothing.

    Philippians 4:6-7 tells believers to bring every request to God with thanksgiving and promises God's peace.

The best comeback, and his answer

Challenger: The largest scientific study of intercessory prayer found no effect, and the patients who knew they were being prayed for actually did somewhat worse.

Nate: That's an accurate summary of the STEP trial, and I won't spin it. It shows God doesn't perform as a controlled variable for strangers reading names off a list. It can't tell you whether he hears a person who comes to him honestly.

What he grants the other side

Controlled trials like STEP have not shown a medical benefit from strangers' prayers.

The lines

Sources

  1. Benson H. et al., American Heart Journal, Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients (2006)
  2. The Bible, Luke 22:42
  3. The Bible, Matthew 4:7; Deuteronomy 6:16
  4. The Bible, Philippians 4:6-7

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