Power of Prayer
“Hey, Bryan, I understand they have a new board game out. It’s called ‘The Power of Prayer.’” Zach thought this new game was intriguing.
“That’s sounds interesting,” said Bryan.
“How does it work?”
“It’s designed to simulate how prayer works. It’s pretty realistic,” said Zach.
“It’s hard for me to imagine a simulation of how prayer works. I mean, how do they do that?” asked Bryan.
Zach explained how to play “The Power of Prayer.”
“First you have to pick your playing piece. Most game pieces represent religions - for example, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, and so on. There are also pieces you can designate however you want to. You can pray to the sun, or the moon, or a tree, the god of thunder, or whatever. You get to decide. So basically, you pick which “god” you will be praying to. Let’s pretend you are playing. What piece do you pick?”
“I’ll pick the Christian figure,” said Bryan, who was raised Catholic and still considered himself a good Catholic – although this project was giving him plenty to think about.
“Okay," said Zach. "I’ll be – let’s see, the Buddhist, or the Hindu, or the Jew, or maybe the Mormon – no, I’ll be the Muslim figure.”
Zach continued, “Each person will roll two dice when it’s his turn. But before you roll, you will say a prayer. Pray for something good to happen, for someone to get well, for people to be happy, or whatever you might normally pray for. There are 36 spaces, and each space has a life event. There are half - eighteen - that are good things that could happen, and half that are bad things that could happen.”
“Okay, Bryan,” said Zach. “Let’s say it’s your turn to roll. Now, say a quick prayer.”
“I feel funny about saying a prayer as part of a game,” said Bryan.
“Make it a real prayer, then. No harm. Don’t lie or fake it - just say a prayer like you would normally say one,” Zach encouraged Bryan.
“Well, okay,” said Bryan. “Lord, help each of us to know you better, and to devote our lives to doing your will. Help those who are sick with the magic of your healing power. Be with those who are traveling during this time that they will arrive safely at their destination. Help us to celebrate this glorious, wondrous day you have given us. In Jesus Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.”
“Good. Okay, Bryan, now you roll.”
Bryan rolled and moved his game piece to the space that said, “A sick relative gets better and is feeling fine.”
“So, your prayer was answered. Great,” said Zach. “Now roll again.”
After he landed, Bryan read, “A member of your immediate family is killed in an auto accident.”
“Ouch!” exclaimed Zach. “Now, that’s not good. Did you pray for someone to get killed?”
“Of course not,” replied Bryan.
“Right. In fact, you prayed for people to be safe,” said Zach. “Well, then. You have to come up with a brief explanation of how this happened. The usual explanation is, ‘It’s not for us to understand. The Lord works in mysterious ways.’ After you’ve used this explanation a few times, it becomes a habit – you can use it for just about any unanswered prayer.”
“So,” Bryan said, “when something good happens you praise the Lord, and when something bad happens, you say it’s not for us to know – the Lord works in mysterious ways. God can’t lose.”
“Right,” replied Zach. “Just like real prayers. Prayer is such a powerful and deceptive tool. If the priest, or preacher, or whoever your religious leader is, can convince you to pray to the ‘real’ God regularly, and then link all good things that happen to the prayer, he’s got you hooked. People begin to think that good things happen because they prayed and God answered those prayers.”
“Next roll, Bryan. Go ahead,” urged Zach. “Great! You won your soccer game. And, of course, being a good Christian, I’m sure you or someone on your team prayed for victory. You get another ‘Answered Prayer’ card.”
“But Bryan, what about the members on the losing team? Let’s say some of them prayed to win this same game. For the winners, God answered their prayer and allowed them to win. For the losers, God did not answer their prayers for some reason, and let them lose.”
“Now, if you had lost – and remember, for every prayer answered to win a game, someone else has a prayer that was not answered – you would pick an ‘Unanswered Prayer’ card. Say the Wildcats are playing the Cardinals. Both teams pray for victory before the game, but only one team wins. The winning team would have “Answered Prayers,’ and the losing team would have ‘Unanswered Prayers.’ No matter what happens, there is an explanation.”
“Roll one more time,” said Zach. “Let’s see. You passed your Math test! This test really had you worried, and you prayed every night this week to pass it. Now you’ve passed it – pick an ‘Answered Prayer’ card. God must have answered your prayer – I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that you studied every night this week!”
“I get the point. It’s kind of hokey, though. I mean, what’s the point?” questioned Bryan.
“The makers of the game say that’s for you to decide. They want you to think. Let’s see. Here’s the guide. It says:
As you play the game:
- Think about prayers you or others have made
- Think about those that you would consider ‘Answered Prayers,’ ‘Unanswered Prayers,’ or ‘The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways’
- Why do you think some prayers seem to be answered, some are not, and some we just don’t know?
- Is there a difference in the power of prayer depending on whom you pray to – in other words, which ‘God’ you pray to?
- Is it a waste of time to pray if you are praying to the ‘wrong’ God?
- Why would God answer some prayers and not others?
- How would you define the 'Power of Prayer'?
Zach continued, “Anyone can show example after example of how the power of prayer works. Look at Mrs. Hogan. She had cancer and we all prayed for her, and now she’s better. Praise the Lord! Or look at Mr. Wiggins. He lost his job, and we prayed for him. Now he’s found another job, and it’s even better than the one he lost. Praise the Lord! Or Joanie is pregnant, and we prayed that her baby be healthy. Joanie delivers a healthy baby, and the preacher says how wonderful it is that God answered our prayers and delivered a healthy baby.
Praise the Lord!”
"But," said Zach, "if Mrs. Hogan dies of cancer, or Mr. Wiggins is still unemployed, or if Joanie's baby in born dead or with major defects, it's obvious the prayers didn't work. And, unfortunately those type of bad things happen every day."
“Pray and link good things that happen to the prayer. Overlook the bad things that happen. You can’t lose. Hmmm,” Bryan thoughtfully added.
“So,” said Zach, “anyone with any common sense, anyone who understands cause and effect, and anyone who understands the laws of probability, knows that prayers and what happens are not necessarily related. It’s not cause and effect. It’s like if I do a rain dance in my backyard every day. When it rains, I claim that it rained because I did my rain dance. If it doesn’t rain, I just brush it off, and say the rain god just wasn’t quite ready yet, or maybe that it did work, but that it just took some time. But obviously, my rain dance has no bearing on whether or not it’s going to rain.”
“Likewise, when we pray, it doesn’t affect what is going to happen. But in our mind, we can make a connection that’s not even there. After all, the mind is very powerful. And we can convince the mind that the power of prayer is very potent,” Zach concluded.
“You know, Zach,” Bryan said. “I‘ve never really looked at prayer that way. Very interesting, but I’m not sure I agree with what you’re saying. I’ve always thought that prayer works and that prayer makes sense.”
“Well, Bryan, just think about it. Don’t rush to a decision – just think about it. Now, let’s see - your roll. Pray for a seven!”