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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm trying not to be rude or insensitive about this.  Please bear with me a little.

Here's the situation.  Not quite 11 year old boy.  Born with Down Syndrome.  Had the open heart surgery and all forms of early intervention that were necessary, and doing ok in that regard.

At age 7, he was diagnosed with leukemia.  Lots of prayers, 2 years of treatments.  An extra year after he was in remission, to be sure it was gone.

At a regular check up something concerning showed up.  The worst case scenario has been confirmed.. the leukemia has returned 2 years after his last treatment.  (Roughly)

His parents are very strong in their faith and are asking for prayers.  Which is what they do, where they find comfort.  I understand that.

But what in the world do you pray for in this instance?  IMO, the boy and his family have dealt with [i]enough[/i].  His mom quotes things like "If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it."  "God doesn't give us more than we can handle."

I'm not a praying person, obviously.  I don't understand what people would be praying for.  Comfort for the family?  Knowledge for the doctors?  I don't think praying for a good outcome is going to do much good.  Why do they "need" to go through this again in the first place?[/quote]

Taking the entirety of spirituality out of this:  Prayer is a form of meditation and self-talk that helps calms your nerves.  It's good for stress relief.  It can reduce levels of cortisol in the blood.

At a social level, it is a practice that binds people, offering comfort among family and peers.

[/quote]

This definition sounds most accurate and encompassing to me.  The minister's explanation, as kind as it was, presumed spirituality and a belief in god.  Non-believers may relax a little, but the greater benefits go to those who believe.  That may be the reality. Then again, if prayer can be defined as a form of self-talk that calms your nerves, then it's available to all.

Even as a believer, I didn't pray.  It didn't make sense to me and I derived no comfort from it.  Emptying my mind works best and the best way to do that was to swim.  After about 10 lengths my mind is free and my breathing is rhythmic and easy.

I've read (don't have the source) that a study of buddhist and christian monks found that  the same area of the brain lit up when they prayed to their different gods.  I wouldn't be surprised if that part of my brain lights up when swimming or taking long walks.[/quote]

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