Prayer Works, According to Science
by Andrew Fowler Andrew Fowler is the editor of RealClearReligion. He is also the communications specialist at Yankee Institute.
The role of prayer in civil society has emerged in the wake of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting, and this may be a blessing of sorts amidst the tragedy.
This is because scientific research has shown time and again that religious faith and the practice of prayer check pathologies and improve quality of life on almost every level.
However, politicians and commentators belittled “thoughts and prayers” as ineffective in preventing other mass killings. Others, from Vice President JD Vance to Bishop Robert Barron to Franciscan University, were quick to emphasize prayer’s importance in moments of anguish and darkness. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security even tweeted, “Pray without ceasing.”
Both, in some sense, recognize a deep societal sickness has gripped America’s youth for decades, albeit reaching different conclusions. Yet the precipitous rise in anxiety and depression among younger demographics has been coupled with the collapse of regular prayer and religious practice. This should not go unnoticed: the stock of scientific evidence shows prayer produces psychological benefits, reducing stress, loneliness, and fear, as well as increased connection to community. Religious people often live longer too.
In short, those who pray are generally happier.
In extreme cases, a lack of spiritual purpose and practice can contribute to isolation and pathologies culminating in self-harm and hatred and violence toward others. Robert “Robin” Westman—the transgender Minnesota shooter—is such a case. His manifesto reveals a twisted spiritual battle, even so far as depicting his reflection as a demon.
Prayer, however, is not a simple psychological activity, ritual words and postures, or an irrational “neurosis” as Sigmund Freud asserted—but physically, emotionally, and spiritually efficacious with wider implications for an individual and society at-large.
In a religious context, prayer is conversing with God Himself. It allows space to not only offer intentions and discern His will for our lives, but to draw strength for the spiritual battle against Satan and the principalities of darkness, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states. Indeed, the practice is a “vital necessity” for the soul, in which one deepens their relationship with Him.