Four out of five British adults believe in the power of prayer.

I know the journalism is typically Daily Mail. It's just the story.....

Love his robes.
I think most people pray in a similar situation. I know I do.

Like the "hat"...seems like a decent man.

There is an interesting discussion from a range of religious perspectives and none here:

forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get.topic;f=2;t=017788

Just tested this and it doesn't work.

However if you google

ship of fools the power of prayer

It will take you there.

It doesn't say how big the survey was, how those who answered it were selected or what the questions were. I don't believe that figure of four out of five.

I believe in the power of prayer - not because I think anyone is actually out there listening, but because it represents peoples' hopes and wishes and that is a powerful concept. Several of my friends pray for us when times are hard and I appreciate the thought attached to that.

Jing what a brilliant site. Hadn't met it before.

Galen The Mail Online?

Never read the mail.

Telegraph piece on the survey, absent www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9953128/Britons-still-believe-in-prayer-and-young-lead-the-way-poll-suggests.html

Do you mean the Ship of Fools site, Galen?

The ship of fools!

Hmm. I'm dubious too. As absent says, there is no real information. Prayer, for instance, is not defined (at least not in the article). It could include just thinking deeply about something as well as praying to a god or gods. I wouldn't class someone in dire straits saying "Oh god! get me out of here!" as prayer, but some people might.

Anyone with an ounce of commonsense in their brain would know exactly what is meant by "prayer".

And no, "My God! Get me out of this shit", would not be included. Obviously.

I sometimes think there's a ship of fools round here!

I do, however, think that sometimes people think their prayers have been answered when really all that has happened is that, due to wanting something really badly, they themselves have put the effort in to get it.

But perhaps the praying helped to reinforce their determination.

I'm not a Christian and [obviously] don't go to church. But I love churches as buildings but also as places that have a beautiful spiritual feel to them. Whenever I'm deeply worried about something [which happened to me last week] I will go and light a candle and ask for help. I suppose that makes me very two faced, but I do have some sort of a need for spirituality of some kind in my life. And, I do try to 'give back' in some way.

Why wouldn't "Oh God, get me out of here" count as prayer? Storm conversion is well known.

According to The Daily Telegraph, six out of seven British adult believe in the power of prayer, not the Daily Mail's four out of five. I think other statistics reported also disagree.

They should do a survey to find out how many British adults are mathematically challenged.

Count it if you like, absent. I wouldn't count it if I said it, is all, because it would just be a convenient explosion of words in a stressful situation. If I said it. So I'm just saying, it isn't necessarily a prayer. It could be, but it's not what I understand as prayer. I guess My understanding is that prayer is more contemplative – reflection and deep thought – rather than a shout for help which, in my view, wouldn't come from a god if it did come, but from fellow human beings.

I mean the help wouldn't come from a god.

Bags Trapped in a burning building or faced with firing squad in Indonesia after being convicted of drug smuggling is the sort of occasion when "Oh God, help me/get me out of here" becomes prayer in my opinion rather than an expression of exasperation.

OK. But would you believe in its efficacyif you didn't think human help was on its way?

I wouldn't believe in it all. But desperate situations can make people believe all sorts of nonsense.