Q&A: Prayer Nowadays
Prayer Nowadays
Question
Hello,
I corresponded with you many times years ago on Atzch”h, and I also met you face to face during that same period, in the cheerful days of Atzch”h. This is also a good opportunity to thank you — my belief in God today is due in part to you.
From reading your site, I understood that you argue that nowadays prayer is not effective on the physical plane, and I had trouble understanding how you know that, since studies (which you cited in your book God Plays Dice) do not point to a conclusive result, as some of them do support the thesis that prayer succeeds. And more general studies claim that compared to parallel groups, religious people are healthier, happier, enjoy better social and family circumstances, and live longer.
(See, for example, the Taub Institute survey this year, and another survey conducted בעקבותיו confirmed it.)
Of course, each of these findings can be explained, but in any case there is no proof that prayer is ineffective.
Answer
Hello,
On the site I addressed this in several responsa. For example here:
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A8-%D7%AA%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%95%D7%90/
And here:
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%96%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%91-%D7%93-%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%A5/
Briefly, this is not the result of scientific research, just as the existence of God is not the result of scientific research. It is the result of a direct impression that things are conducted according to laws. When someone takes acetaminophen, the fever goes down, regardless of the person’s spiritual state. More generally, if the Holy One, blessed be He, is managing things directly, then there are no laws of nature, because what causes the result is divine intervention and not natural causes. Of course, sporadic involvement on very rare occasions is possible, and I am speaking only about the regular, ongoing conduct of the world.
Moreover, my claim is that even those who speak about providence do not really believe in it. I do not know of any God-fearing researcher who neutralizes the effect of prayers in his studies (that is, when he compares a research group to a control group, he makes sure there is no difference in religious level). I also do not know anyone who refrains from using medical studies because of this issue. The empty talk about effort and trust is nonsense, of course, and it too hides a lack of belief in providence behind it.