Taking Another Look at Prayer

Mother and daughter sit on a tree at the beach

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A few years ago, I was on a flight traveling from Paris back to the United States when the flight was diverted to make an emergency landing in Montreal, Canada, due to a critically ill passenger on board. The pilot announced there was a passenger that was having a medical emergency. After such a long flight, you could imagine the mood on the plane. You could have heard a pin drop after the announcement.

As the pilot’s announcement sank in, some passengers started whispering words like, “I hope he’ll make it,” “Oh God, please don’t let anything happen to him,” and “Hope he will be ok.” Some people who appeared to be silent were quietly expressing gestures of hope and healing without saying it aloud. The passengers’ expressions, whether implicit or explicit, were different forms of prayers.

Thankfully, the plane landed safely at the Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, Québec, Canada, and the ill passenger was safely transferred to the care of the airport medical team. After a few minutes of security checks and passengers’ headcount in the aircraft, we continued our journey. At that moment, it was evident that people were not much concerned about the delay or inconveniences the diversion had caused. Instead, the health concern of one out of the 366 passengers on board became a priority to everyone. As some passengers internalized the incident, they continued to offer words of prayers for the ill passenger and for our own safe landing at our destination. Sometimes, it takes life’s disruptions to experience a spiritual awakening, in this scenario, engaging in prayer.

Prayer knows no boundaries, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation, or any other demographical qualifiers. Prayer can be performed even 30,000 feet above the ground as an aircraft cruise across an ocean, or in a totally different country’s airspace. You can silently pray anywhere and everywhere without violating the peace of others. Prayer is simply a spiritual gesture toward a supernatural being, which some may call the universe. Irrespective of what you call this phenomenon, prayer is the language of humanity. As such, different schools of thought share one common belief about prayer: Prayer is a spiritual, intimate communication between you and the higher power. Praying is not always done when you posture yourself in a certain position. Instead, whenever good or not-so-good things happen, and you express certain thoughts or words either publicly or privately, prayer has taken place. A person can pray anywhere, whether taking a walk in the park, sitting by the ocean side, on the rim of the Grand Canyon, in the National Cathedral, or at the neighborhood church.

The belief that prayer has a spiritual undertone has been scientifically and religiously argued. Consider these scenarios: a person seeking a promotion at their place of work hopes that their interview goes well; an applicant looking for a job hopes to get invited for an interview; a first-time home buyer expresses belief and anticipation for the loan to go through; a person experiencing health issues hopes to be healed; parents of a teenager who went off to college worry about their child's success and safety. The list goes on regarding how people implicitly pray for something good to happen to them or their loved ones. The saying in Latin, laborare est orare, which literally means "to work is to pray," suggests that as you work hard, you are also praying to succeed. Prayer is more of a spiritual exercise for a supernatural intervention. Whatever your previous thoughts about prayer have been, it may be time to take another look at prayer and consider its benefits you may have not considered.

Prayer has both faith-based and scientific components

Prayer is faith-based to the extent that you believe there is a higher power that can come to your rescue when you express the desire in words or posture, especially when things are uncertain or overwhelming. Prayer still remains a phenomenon that is difficult to measure or explain, yet many people pray, whatever their sense of personal faith may be.

However, prayer also has a scientific component. It increases psychological perspective, which improves emotional management of personal problems. A top neurosurgeon shared his story. Before he starts brain surgery on a patient, he first acknowledges his limited knowledge as a human being and asks for a higher power to guide him to a successful surgery. Another example is a successful business executive who recognizes the existence of a higher power and includes his belief in his organization’s purpose statement. From a scientific perspective, prayer is less a means to an end than a tool that strengthens your spiritual and psychological well-being toward living a balanced life.

Prayer has both spiritual and religious dimensions

Confusion ensues once prayer is viewed only as a religious practice. Invariably, prayer becomes denominational once you classify it only as a religious exercise. Yet, many people with no religious affiliation pray when they need help or to show gratitude. Prayer is a spiritual engagement, not limited to a specific expression of religious faith, but on the part of anyone with a belief in the existence of a higher power.

Some people have a name for their supreme being, while others don’t. The bottom line is that because certain things can never be explained, you believe that the gap between the unexplainable and the known is where the higher power comes into play. Prayer is a personal quest between you and your higher power. To those who believe that prayer works for them, it is absolutely understandable, and even those who have little confidence in their ability to pray may respect others who do.