Help Finding A Book?

[Wendybabe]

I grew up in a big religious family that always talked about their "prayers being answered!" My aunt would pray for her-car. My grandma would pray for her neighbors. My cousins would pray for good grades. O.K. so this may sound kinda weird but I think my relatives really were talking to someone when they were praying! They were talking to themselves! They were going over and over in their own minds on how to solve their circumstances by prayer! They would sit and meditate until the answer came! It works like this. "Lord, I found some money on the ground today! What should I do with it?" Answer: "I think you should keep it!" O.K. Maybe its not always that simple but you know what I am talking about. My question is, Has anyone ever gone into depth into this "phenomenon?" If so how can I get a copy of it?

[pandora]

I think you're probably right. I know prayer served that purpose for me a lot. I'm sure someone has explored it in a book, probably in secular scholarly psychology, but I wouldn't have any idea what terms to search under. Maybe you could start with researching the psychological benefits of meditation (and prayer) in secular psychology journals and text books... surely that would lead you to the right place to learn more.

[Cracked]

Here is a short article(In the American Heart Journal) about a prayer experiment that cost $2.4 million.

 

It's no book, but it is interesting.

 

Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer.

 

Clinical Investigation

 

American Heart Journal. 151(4):934-942, April 2006.

Benson, Herbert MD a,l; Dusek, Jeffery A. PhD a,l; Sherwood, Jane B. RN m; Lam, Peter PhD m; Bethea, Charles F. MD b; Carpenter, William MDiv c; Levitsky, Sidney MD d; Hill, Peter C. MD e; Clem, Donald W. Jr. MA f; Jain, Manoj K. MD, MPH g; Drumel, David MDiv g,h; Kopecky, Stephen L. MD i; Mueller, Paul S. MD j; Marek, Dean k; Rollins, Sue RN, MPH b; Hibberd, Patricia L. MD, PhD l,m

Abstract:

Background: Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials. Prior studies have not addressed whether prayer itself or knowledge/certainty that prayer is being provided may influence outcome. We evaluated whether (1) receiving intercessory prayer or (2) being certain of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with uncomplicated recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

 

Methods: Patients at 6 US hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 604 received intercessory prayer after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; 597 did not receive intercessory prayer also after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; and 601 received intercessory prayer after being informed they would receive prayer. Intercessory prayer was provided for 14 days, starting the night before CABG. The primary outcome was presence of any complication within 30 days of CABG. Secondary outcomes were any major event and mortality.

 

Results: In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). Complications occurred in 59% (352/601) of patients certain of receiving intercessory prayer compared with the 52% (315/604) of those uncertain of receiving intercessory prayer (relative risk 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28). Major events and 30-day mortality were similar across the 3 groups.

 

Conclusions: Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.

[LithaB]

I think you might find what you are looking for in any Psychology of Mind book. Here's an article that gives you an overview of POM.