You forgot to include my favorite, “None of the Above”. I do not pray for concepts, very rarely for institutions, and I am sure never for industries. I do pray for the people who are part of institutions and industries, especially as they are layed off and struggling to keep money coming in. The automakers (even with their goofy stunt of “driving” to last weeks meeting with Congress) are making their appeal to Congress, not to God. I believe that it is in instances like this that God entrusted us with enough sense and ability to sort it out and make the necessary changes. I do not blame God for what has happened, nor do I expect God to step in. At the very most, I might hope that God will inspire one or more of the automakers to design and manufacture better cars.

Can someone explain to me what is the purpose of prayer?

Noble baker,
Same thing as dancing under a tree naked.
Well actually not the same thing dancing under a tree naked can be\lead to fun

Let’s face a fact. For eight years this country has been run with economic philosophy of the GOP – God’s Own Party. It has been an egregious failure. For about 7 years the rich could pretend ‘the fundamentals of the economy were still strong’ but anyone with an income less than $100,000 a year knew the economy was in fact in the latrine. In the last year – things have gotten much worse.

It’s time to admit the truth of that fine Dan Barker song – Nothing Fails Like Prayer.

I’m reasonably sure prayer makes for a happier frame of mind, but the idea that it actually does something by way of the desired outcome is quite another thing. Prayer has been subjected to the occasional test and been shown to have no effect save for one result; very religious people undergoing surgery and knowing their recovery was the subject of the prayers of others did slightly worse than the control group.

Prayer doesn’t work. They did studies.
“In the study, the researchers monitored 1,802 patients at six hospitals who received coronary bypass surgery, in which doctors reroute circulation around a clogged vein or artery.
The patients were broken into three groups. Two were prayed for; the third was not. Half the patients who received the prayers were told that they were being prayed for; half were told that they might or might not receive prayers.
The researchers asked the members of three congregations — St. Paul’s Monastery in St. Paul; the Community of Teresian Carmelites in Worcester, Mass.; and Silent Unity, a Missouri prayer ministry near Kansas City — to deliver the prayers, using the patients’ first names and the first initials of their last names.
The congregations were told that they could pray in their own ways, but they were instructed to include the phrase, “for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications.”
Analyzing complications in the 30 days after the operations, the researchers found no differences between those patients who were prayed for and those who were not.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html
If God wouldn’t listen to prayers about peoples health and lives why would he listen to prayers about money and jobs?

The Onion has a funny piece on a faith-based repair shop that tried to use prayer to fix TV sets.

It’s funny how Christians can believe that their skydaddy has a preordained plan for the whole world, including already knowing in advance, when he’s mass-producing souls in his magical factory plant, which ones will succeed and fail his heaven/hell test (like mink farmers who already know what they’re breeding their animals for). And they can then simultaneously believe that this eternal already-set-in-stone plan can somehow be suspended and changes can be made along the way on the whims of certain religious people in a particular country in a particular part of history.
Just a (free)thought!
WV

there’s an option missing, just NO
I don’t believe political action is not gonna rescue the economy either, it will draw out the inevitable reset that the economy itself makes, we’ll survive this and the economy will still be the economy.

“Same thing as dancing under a tree naked.
Well actually not the same thing dancing under a tree naked can be\lead to fun”
Well, the naked tree dancing would be be more likely to have an effect on the economy.

I work in a facility that hosts a church meeting weekly. I listened in one Sunday, and one of the leaders (a lay leader) cited studies that proved the efficacy of prayer. I wanted to go in and reference the study cited by Brad.
My basic humanity won out over my humanism, though (and also the fear of losing my job), so I kept my mouth shut. It’s probably a good thing I was behind a cubicle, though, because my face said everything I didn’t.

somehow I’m wondering if this poll got influenced by the Friendly Atheist?
http://friendlyatheist.com/6672/are-you-praying-for-the-economy/

I don’t really believe in political action, but it’s much more likely to solve our issues than prayer.

Prayer have never helped anyone

Maybe it’s praying that got us in trouble to begin with!!! Maybe this time someone will get off their knees and do something. (of course bin laden can say his prayers were answered)

I’m not a believer in any gods, but I’m pretty sure if He exists, God would be proud of his followers if they stopped begging to him for a moment to start actively working on solving the problem. If we got ourselves into the mess, it only makes sense that we do something to get out of it that doesn’t involve asking for a higher power to fix it while we do, really, nothing.

I don’t believe in prayer alone or action alone. When we seek guidence from God then the action we take has a greater chance at success.

It is not good to pray for such things as helping the automotive industry,but I work for general motors.We are currently on lay-off and the economy being so bad we can use all the help we can get,even from above!I pray that everyone makes it through these tough times,and hope that we all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!Keep the faith and everything will work out.I want to thank you for this site,God bless us all!

I believe in prayer for all things in life.to help me threw each day.and i believe in myself to make my life better and for all I meet I try to give a smile. a hello. or how are you..open a door.say thank you.let someone in the line go before me if they seem in a hurry.because when it all comes down to it. its us that will make a difereince in the life we live if we were all a little kinder to each other it would make it a little easier to make it through the tough times we are all having it dosnt matter if your rich or poor i will always pray for you. to feel at peace in your heart and to have love for all thing in life.may god bless you all.

i believe inprayer for things are posible wiht god.may god give you strent andhope