The Nature of Christian Prayer

Megan L. (Mitchell) King

Abstract

What are the different elements and characteristics of a Christian�s life that create a vibrant prayer life in an individual?  This question was investigated using a sample group of 66 participants at a non-denominational Christian Church in Mt. Carmel, IL.  A closed question survey was randomly handed out to church members at a Sunday evening church gathering.  Very few demographic questions were asked in the survey before the participant was asked if they profess Christianity as their personal faith.  If the participant answered NO, they were instructed to hand in their survey which was not used in this particular research investigation.  Further questioning for those who answered YES to this question pertained to the individual�s personal prayer life and particular beliefs about prayer.  The results of this investigation indicated that participants who have a high level of personal faith commitment also participate more frequently in personal prayer and study.  Another positive correlation was found indicating that participants who have a high frequency of prayer also have a high level of personal closeness to God when they pray.  These results imply that there are several factors that affect both the quality and quantity of an individual Christian�s personal prayer life.  Therefore, a Christian�s prayer life cannot easily be disconnected from the other areas of the Christian�s life.

            Prayer.  It is one of the most foundational and accepted disciplines in just about every world religion system.  Almost any person would claim that prayer is a valuable tool in life.  Yet, for the Christian, prayer is not simply a tool- it is a way of life.  It is the language of communication between the heart of the believer and the God of the Bible.  And still, many Christians would say that although they value and talk about prayer frequently, they rarely bring their hearts before God and truly engage in an active relationship with the Lord through prayer.  So, what is the key to a vibrant prayer life?  Why is it that some Christians struggle to maintain an active prayer life while others naturally pursue communication with God almost constantly?

            The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, �And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.�  Then again he wrote to the church in Thessalonica, �Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God�s will for you in Christ Jesus.� And then, Jesus himself taught frequently about the how-to�s, why�s, and what�s about prayer to His Father in Heaven.  One in particular was recorded in the gospel of Luke chapter 18.  Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow and exhorts His disciples even of today to be like the persistent widow and cry out to God day and night.  Therefore, if continual, all-encompassing, persistent prayer is clearly taught throughout the Bible (the �Christian�s handbook to life�), then why do so many Bible-believing Christians struggle with having lives that are characterized by continual, all-encompassing, persistent prayer?

            If common characteristics were found about the lives of Christians who actively pursue a vibrant prayer life and then also about the lives of Christians who struggle to turn their desire for prayer into an actual life discipline, the Church might be able to better teach struggling Christian�s how to move from the second group to the first.  If a prayer awakening would take place in the lives of Christian�s around the globe, there would be no stopping the work God would likely do in the lives of people worldwide.  The Body of Christ would likely rise up and begin to actually begin to fully know the One whom they call Lord, Savior, and eternal Bridegroom.  Therefore, the prayer lives of those who call themselves followers of Christ are of paramount significance to the health of the Church today.

            Ai, Bolling, and Peterson (2000) also found that prayer positively affected the lives and health of patients going through a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).  A study was conducted at the Medical Research Center at the University of Michigan to investigate the make-up of a sample of CABG patients and the impact or lack of impact that prayer had on their ability to cope following the graft.  The sample size for this study was 151 CABG patients.  Previous to the graft, demographic information was collected about the patients and the dates of their upcoming surgery.  Then, 6 months after the surgery, patients were asked for cardiac information.  Finally, 1 year following the surgery, a questionnaire was sent out to investigate information about their pre-CABG socioeconomic information, non-cardiac chronic illnesses, perceived social support following the surgery, religious involvement used to cope with the surgery, and post surgery depression and emotional health. 

            Ai, Bolling, and Peterson (2000) discovered that the 68% of the participants questioned reported using private prayer as a means to cope with the surgery.  These patients were found to have better post-operative emotional health, like less depression.  It was also found that patients who were 65 or older were more likely to pray than the younger participants.  While the younger participants who were more likely to pray were characterized by such demographic information like lower income status, better pre-operative health, and more education.

            Another study conducted by Laurencelle, Abell, and Schwartz (2002) found that high faith participants had significantly higher levels of psychological well being than participants from their study who had lower faith scores.  This study of 210 adult participants investigated the relationship between intrinsic religious faith and psychological well-being.  Laurencelle et al. (2002) noted that, �Intrinsic religious faith was defined not as simple agreement with religious doctrine, but as belief in and reliance on a higher power� (p.109).  Specifically, these participants with the higher levels of belief and reliance on a higher power had lower anxiety and depression scores, were less likely to exhibit character pathology, and they had higher ego strength scores.  All of these scores were higher in comparison to participants who ranked with a lower level of intrinsic faith.  Although a causal relationship between psychological well-being and high intrinsic faith could not be found in this study, there was a very strong correlation found between the two variables.

            Past psychological literature reports that there are 4 linguistic characteristics of disclosure narratives that are associated with personal benefits.  Based on this previous information, VandeCreek, Janus, Pennebaker, and Binau conducted research in order to find out if there would be any similarities in the linguistic characteristics of these beneficial disclosure narratives and the disclosures or prayers of people about difficult circumstances to God.  These 4 linguistic characteristics include: causal statements, expressions of insight, words of denoting negative emotions, and words of denoting positive emotions.  Specific personal benefits that were found to be associated with these narrative disclosures included benefits to the personal physical and mental health. 

            VandeCreek et al. (2002) conducted their study with a participant group of 66 participants who wrote either disclosures, letters to God or extemporaneous disclosure prayers. A program called the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) analyzed the disclosures to God.  This data for the prayer disclosures was compared to the data from the previous study data of the narrative disclosures that had been found to be associated with personal benefits.  Results suggest that these prayers contain similar linguistic characteristics to disclosures and may also be associated with personal benefits.  Researchers suggest that these findings could be one explanation as to how prayers about difficult experiences are helpful.  Findings show that the participants wrote in a rather revealing fashion about events or feelings that they regarded as serious.  They avoided writing about painful events very little.  No significant differences were found in comparing results of the studies except that the disclosures to God used more expressions of insight and positive emotions.

            In a recent study on the relationship between prayer expectancies and various other demographic factors, Krause (2004) found some interesting correlations between racial differences and expectations about prayer.  The study was based on the idea that people hold beliefs about whether prayers are answered, the timing of answers to prayers, and the beliefs about the ways prayers are answered.  Krause investigated a population of 748 older whites and 752 older African Americans.  Participants were evaluated on the following:  trust-based prayer expectancies, frequency of private prayer, frequency of church attendance, race, and other demographic control measures.  The results of this study indicated that older whites are less likely than older African Americans to endorse trust-based prayer expectancies.  It was also found that people who believe that God answers prayers the way God thinks it best, and in the way God thinks is best, tend to have greater feelings of self-worth than older adults who do not endorse these trust based prayer expectancies.  Finally, it is prayer expectancies, and not just the mere frequency of prayer, that influence feelings of self-esteem in later life.

            Boe and Byrd (2001) conducted a study with a population of 166 college students from the University of Nebraska to see if there were any correlations between attachment dimensions of personality and individuals� prayer lives.  A questionnaire was distributed to assess 4 areas of possible correlation:  attachment level of the individual, early church attendance, current stress level in the individual, and the types of prayer the individual most frequently uses (meditative prayer, conversational prayer, petitionary prayer, or ritual prayers).

            The results of Boe and Byrd�s (2001) research reveal several interesting correlations relating to characteristics of an individual�s prayer life.  First, there was a high correlation between meditative prayer and conversational prayer.  This indicates that individuals who have regular conversations with God throughout the day also engage in a meditative state of thinking on the things of God.  Also, there was a significantly high correlation found between church attendance and prayer.  In other words, a person who regularly attends church is likely to also engage in an active prayer life.  In relation to the attachment level and prayer correlations, the following results were found: 1) the avoidance type personality was negatively and significantly related to conversational and meditative prayer, 2) stress avoidance showed the predicted relation to conversational and meditative prayer, and 3) anxiety was a significant predictor of petitionary (materialistic help-seeking) prayer, only.  The researchers concluded that avoidance is negatively associated with prayer that maintains closeness to God without making material requests.  Also, nonavoidant people generally pray when under stress and avoidant people do not. 

            In 1998, Pargament and Zinnbauer carried out a study with 130 college students in order to find common factors associated with spiritual conversion experiences.  The researchers grouped the students into 3 categories:  those who had recently experienced a spiritual conversion, those who had gradually become more spiritual over a long period of time with no significant conversion experience, and those who did not consider themselves to be religious.  Interviews were conducted to assess the participants� experience before conversion, what they experienced in the 6 month period prior to the conversion experience, etc.  The interviews gave the participants an opportunity to tell their story about their spiritual conversion experiences.  The interviews were qualitative and process-oriented rather than standardized and objective.  After running an ANOVA test on the findings of these interviews, results showed that women who experienced religious change improved more in an overall sense of self and self-confidence over time than other women and men. Also, the recent convert participants reported greater life transformation than the more religious participants after the religious experience took place.  Finally, the religious change groups improved more over time in overall sense of self than the non-religious group.

            Spilka and Ladd (2002) were of the first researchers to conduct an experiment in which the separate inward, outward, and upward components of prayer were investigated.  Specifically, inward prayers were described as prayers that contain self-evaluation, relinquishment of desires, and the pursuit of a covenant relationship with God.  Outward prayers are characterized by a person�s conscious engagement with the physical world.  Upward prayers are often focused on adoration and an intimate relationship to God Himself alone.  The participants of this study were asked to rate words or phrases based on how frequently they thought about them during prayers.  This was done in order to categorize which type of prayer in which the participant had engaged.  The circumstance about which the participant was praying was also accounted for in the investigation.  The only significant data found were various correlations between specific circumstances and the specific type of prayer thoughts that were engaged in during that period of time for a participant. 

            In 2001, 2 researchers- Meisenhelder and Chandler- performed a correlational study to inspect the relationship of frequency of prayer to physical and mental health factors.  The sample involved only Presbyterian pastors, numbering 1,412 who were used in the research.  This sample was meant to be extremely homogeneous and expected to result in a high average of frequency of prayer.  Eight subcategories of physical and mental health were also investigated in this sample of Presbyterian pastors.  The final results demonstrated a significant relationship between a higher frequency of prayer and the three health outcomes of vitality, general health, and mental health. 

             The research of Baesler (2002) indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between the chronological age of Christians and the frequency of their prayers.  Young adults, numbering 77 and middle aged adults numbering 54 were the sample taken for the experimenter�s data.  Also various differences were found concerning the types of prayers that each age group found to help them feel more intimacy with God.  For example, the researcher found that the young adult age group felt more intimacy with God when prayers of thanksgiving were prayed.  Prayers of adoration were the most significant type of prayer to be prayed by middle aged adults in order to gain intimacy with God.  Finally, results indicated that a high level of frequency of prayer was the best indicator of feelings of intimacy with God from the participants.

            Researchers at the University of Akron (Poloma and Pendleton) conducted a study in 1989 to explore the different relationships between types of prayer and quality of life among residents in nearby Akron, Ohio.  The conclusions of the researchers indicate several differing variables associated with prayer that correlate with a high level of life satisfaction or happiness.  Results show that participants who indicate a combination of frequent prayers and frequent prayer experiences (seeing answers to prayer) scored extremely high on religious satisfaction.  Having these prayer experiences was continually found to be closely associated with a high quality of life.  The researchers point out that the only type of prayer that was found to be frequent and correlated with a low level of quality of life was a ritualistic prayer routine.

            Hettler and Cohen from the University of Delaware (1998) carried out an exploratory study to find out how intrinsic religiousness played a role in the lives of various denominations of Protestant churchgoers.  Twelve different churches were used in this experiment sample in order to represent 5 distinct denominations: Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian Church of America, United Methodist, and 3 other evangelical denominations.  Questionnaires were distributed to the church members on 2 occasions with an 8 month time interval between the first and second survey.  The participants from the various churches were categorized into one of two categories based on which denomination they attended.  Those two categories included either a liberal doctrine or a more conservative doctrine of beliefs about the Bible.  Significant data was only found to support the hypothesis that intrinsic religiousness would aid in the coping of stress for the more liberal church participants.  In other words, the church members from the liberal churches tended to cope with stress better because of their intrinsic religious values.

            In a similar research study, Osbourne and Vandenberg (2003) set out to investigate denominational differences for religious coping in various stressful life situations.  The 2 churches used for the sample were quite diverse.  The sample included 75 participants from a Catholic Church and 78 participants from a Disciples of Christ Church.  These participants were asked to read vignettes about 3 seemingly stressful situations that could happen in life and were evaluated based on their chosen religious strategy for coping with each situation.  The 2 denominations were found to be significantly different in the ways in which they would cope with the 3 situations.  Behaviors like pleading with God and feelings of discontent were reported significantly more for the Catholic participants than the Disciples of Christ participants for ways of coping with such stressful life situations.

            A sample of 511 college students who also held primarily Christian beliefs was used for Dollinger�s (2001) study of religious identity.  The main purpose of the experiment was to test the validity and reliability of a new religious testing method using photos.  The researcher evaluated the sample participants on how they answered the question, �Who are you?�  The students were asked to answer this question in 2 ways.  The first was a photographic essay where the student took pictures of people, unique events, or imaginative depictions of themselves which were all supposed to portray the individuals� view of themselves.  The other means of obtaining information about the participants was a questionnaire that contained questions that sought answers from the participant relating to a self evaluation of religiosity, a behavior checklist, a personal inventory, and a values survey.  At the conclusion of the research, the experimenter stated that this new way of testing religiosity by using photos was not ideal.  The validity was low on this type of photographic test.  If a similar experiment was run again, the researcher would further clarify that he desired to obtain photos that demonstrate the individual�s religion or morality and then test for correlations in the questionnaire.

            In 1995, a sample of 1,139 residents was taken from Detroit and the surrounding suburbs using an interview method to evaluate religious involvement and mental health outcomes.  Years later, however, Ellison, Boardman, Williams, and Jackson (2001) used this same sample data in order to test various hypotheses seeking to link multiple aspects of religiosity to psychological well-being and distress.  Tests were run on the data and several valuable correlations were found to link and support the researchers� hypotheses.  First, a positive correlation was found to link frequency of church attendance to well-being; but a negative correlation was found to link this same factor and distress.  Another important finding was that frequency of prayer had a negative correlation with well-being.  Finally, a strong positive correlation was found to connect a belief in eternal life and well-being.

            A final study was conducted by researchers Meisenhelder and Chandler (2002) in which 271 people over 65 were randomly selected to participate in this test to evaluate spirituality and health outcomes in the elderly.  The researchers specifically desired to measure the relationship of frequency of prayer, importance of faith, and the use of religion to cope with various health aspects.  The experimenters posited hypothesized that higher spirituality scores would yield higher scores in an overall health status measure, as has been found in many recent similar research studies.  As was expected, the researchers found in this sample group that prayer, faith, and religious coping strategies were all significantly positively correlated to positive mental health.  The strongest factor that had to be controlled for in most tests was an extremely significant positive relationship between importance of faith and positive mental health.  The researchers also concluded that it was of notable significance that spiritual attitudes rather than just spiritual practices were most positively related to good mental health.

            For the current experiment being explored, the researcher sought to investigate the common characteristics of prayer-filled lives and prayerless lives.  Several hypotheses were posited in relation to these prayer-filled Christian lives.  The first hypothesis proposed was that participants who consider themselves to be faithfully committed Christians will also engage in a high level of spiritual activity.  A second hypothesis proposed was that individuals who feel a personal connection to God when they pray will also be found to engage in more frequent prayer.  A third and final hypothesis was projected stating that Christians who have professed their faith in Christ longer will have experienced more evidence of answered prayer in their life than those Christians who are �younger� in their faith.

            The expectations of the researcher were that each of these hypotheses would be strongly supported with significant correlations.  It seemed rational that a Christian who desires and pursues a faithful commitment to following Christ (a Christian) would follow suit with an indication of behaviors (like study and prayer) that would aid them in the pursuit of being like Jesus.  It was also expected that Christians who feel a strong personal relationship to God when they engage in prayer will desire to pursue that intimacy more frequently and so also pray more frequently.  Finally, it was expected that older Christians would indicate a greater number of occurrences for experiencing answered prayer possibly because they learned to ask God in prayer and then observe His workings on their behalf as they wait upon His answer.

Therefore, the researcher expected that those who indicate a higher level of faith commitment (ranking a 6 or 7 on a Likert scale) will also indicate a higher level of frequency for making reading/study and prayer a part of their life (ranking a 6 or 7 on a Likert scale).  Also, participants who indicate a higher level of prayer frequency (ranking a 6 or 7 on a Likert scale) will also indicate a higher level of a personal connection to God when they pray (ranking a 6 or 7 on a Likert scale). Finally, participants who indicate a longer period of active Christianity in their life (5 years or longer) will also indicate a higher level of frequency in seeing the evidence of �answered prayer� in their life (ranking a 6 or 7 on a Likert scale).

Method

Participants

            The sample for this experiment included 32 males and 34 females, totaling 66 participants.  Each of the participants profess Christianity as their personal faith.  A large diversity of ages was used for data in order to prevent skewed results based solely on this factor.  The age breakdown for the 66 participants was as follows:  18 individuals were between ages 15 and 22, 14 individuals were between ages 23 and 38, 23 individuals were between ages 39 and 54, and 11 individuals were between ages 55 and 78.  All of these participants were randomly chosen by the experimenter at a single church gathering during a time period of approximately 2 hours.  The average level of faith commitment found for the sample was a 6 on a 1-7 Likert Scale.  Also, the average frequency of prayer was a 5.6 on a 1-7 Likert Scale.  Both of these indicate a strong faith and prayer commitment for the sample as a whole.  Therefore, this sample may not offer indicative results of any random church in America.  Also, although other demographic information was not gathered by way of the survey, the experimenter noted that the make-up of the church that the sample was taken from was primarily working to middle class, Caucasian, small town people. 

Apparatus

            The only testing materials necessary for this experiment were copies of the 28 item survey and pens or pencils for the participants to use while filling out their surveys.  Also, although not necessary, the experimenter used an enclosed folder to hide and carry the surveys when the participants completed and submitted them to the experimenter.  This was used in order that the participants would know that the surveys would be kept anonymous and confidential.

            The survey itself was a 28 item closed question survey investigating various components of a professing Christian�s prayer life.  Participants were asked to self-evaluate aspects like frequency of prayer, depth of spiritual commitment, various personal beliefs about the effectiveness of prayer, etc.  Eleven questions were formatted for the participant to choose the best answer for them; 13 questions were formatted for participant to place themselves on the proper place on a Likert Scale; 4 questions were formatted for the participant to rank choices from most applicable to them (1) to least applicable to them (8 or 9).

Procedure

            In order to obtain information from a specific population, the researcher planned to distribute the surveys at a specific local church in Mt. Carmel, IL.  While researching the topic of prayer, the experimenter discovered that there would be a church-wide community celebration at Parkview Christian Church where a diverse group of active church-goers would likely attend.  Therefore, the date was set to conduct the experiment and preparations were made prior to the day of the celebration party.

            Roughly 400 church goers were in attendance at the celebration.  The location of the party was the gymnasium of Parkview Christian Church.  It was a very non-threatening social atmosphere where people were found to be mingling and eating finger foods.  Approximately 30 minutes after the gathering began, the experimenter began distributing the survey randomly around the entire gymnasium to various groups of people and individuals.  The majority of the participants filled out their surveys in another room connected to the gymnasium where they could be alone or they went off by themselves in the gymnasium until they completed the survey.  A copy of the survey can be found in the Appendix. 

Results

            After data was entered into the SPSS data editor, several bivariate correlation tests were run on the data to determine how significant, if any, the relationships were between the 3 sets of 2 variables posited by the researcher previous to conducting the experiment.  The first test yielded a correlation of r = 0.554 at the 0.01 level of significance.  This information signifies that the first hypothesis was supported.  In other words, participants who indicated a high level of faith commitment also indicated a high level of frequency for study and prayer. 

Table 1

Relationship Between the Commitment Level of a Christian and

How frequently They Engage in Reading (Study) and Prayer

**  Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 1 (cont.)

A second bivariate correlation test was conducted on the data sets to test the significance of a relationship between frequency of prayer and the feelings of a personal connection to God when praying.  This test yielded a slight positive correlation of r = 0.515 at the .01 level of significance.  These results demonstrate that the second hypothesis was also supported in that participants who indicated a high frequency of prayer did, in fact, also specify high levels of feelings of personal intimacy to God when they prayed. 

Table 2

Relationship Between the Frequency of Prayer and

The Level of Personal Connection to God Felt During Prayer