Some years ago, the wealthy Christian entrepreneur, John Templeton, set up an experiment to prove that prayer worked in curing or at least helping sick people. The experiment failed - prayer did not help. Of course if you are praying for yourself, you may well feel better, just like you feel better if someone wishes you well. We are not talking psychology here, but measurable changes in health. Many other people over the last century or so have attempted the same thing. The only result is that there is no benefit in praying for someone. [More about Templeton's experiment].

We also know that people prayed for God's help with various world problems. Why do we have some bad wars? [Wars against an invader or to stop genocide are acceptable for the defender although not the aggressor (e.g. stopping Hitler)]. I am 100% sure that many people prayed for bad wars or an aggressor to stop. If you think about it, has there ever, even once, been an occasion where some form of intervention solved a world problem. The answer: "God does not work like that" suggests that prayer is therefore a waste of time as the results would suggest. If there is a supernatural God, why do we see zero evidence? A few people have experienced supernatural things, but not anyone I've met and that numbers many thousands.

It seems totally clear that praying is a waste of time and effort. And people pray to God - so he is the cause of this waste.

God is also the cause of money spent on Churches - perhaps the buildings are not a total waste, they make good community centres. But Monks in monasteries are hard to justify as are the myriad preachers, bishops etc. All wasting our time, effort and money. I'd like to know of any actual measurable benefit from anyone's God.

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