by Stephen Des Georges

Are prayers really worth the effort? Is God really listening? David Hodge says the definitive answer is Yes!

Hodge is an assistant professor of social work in the College of Human Services at Arizona State University’s West campus. He conducted an exhaustive meta-analysis on the effects of intercessory prayer among people with psychological or medical problems.

“There have been many studies of prayer offered for the benefit of another person,” says Hodge, an expert on spirituality and religion. “Some have found positive results for prayer. Others have found no effect. Conducting a meta-analysis takes into account the entire body of empirical research on intercessory prayer. Using this procedure, we found that prayer offered on behalf of another yields positive results.”

Hodge says that his study is important because it is a compilation of 17 available studies. It is not a single work with a single conclusion.

“Ours is the most thorough and all-inclusive study of its kind on this controversial subject of which I am aware,” says Hodge. “More research on the topic is needed. But our findings suggest that praying for people with psychological or medical problems may help them recover.”

The use of prayer as a therapeutic intervention is controversial. Survey research indicates that many people use intercessory prayer as an intervention to aid healing. But just how effective is prayer as an intervention strategy?

“Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective,” Hodge says. “Is it effective enough to meet the standards of the American Psychological Association’s Division 12 for empirically validated interventions? No.

“For example, we should not be treating clients suffering with depression only with prayer,” he adds.

The results of Hodge’s work were featured in the March 2007 issue of Research on Social Work Practice.