Why do we pray? Depends how often we do it
SURVEY: Canadians who talk to God regularly are more likely to give thanks than to ask for help
Of the 20 per cent of Canadians who say they pray every day, most say they do so out of gratitude.
But when the rest — who pray fewer than two to three times a week — close their eyes and talk to a supreme being, chances are they’re asking for something, a survey of Canadians carried out in March shows.
The survey, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, sought to find out how many Canadians pray, how often, and for what. The organization’s chairman, Angus Reid, said he has done surveys of religious practice in the past, but prayer is a “different phenomenon.”
“The litmus test of the faith of Canadians isn’t found only in church attendance,” he said at the 50th anniversary of the B.C. Leadership Prayer Breakfast on April 22.
Respondents of the survey were asked what words they use in prayer. Overwhelmingly, 50 per cent of people said they have a “personal conversation with God,” whereas just six per cent said they recite memorized words. Forty-one per cent said they do both.
Fully two-thirds (66 per cent) of those who prayed in the last year say they “often” or “sometimes” pray lying down. That’s three times as many as say they habitually pray while kneeling or sitting cross-legged (22 per cent each).
The survey results show a huge difference in what people are praying for.
Of the 52 per cent of people who pray “to thank God,” 64 per cent pray on a daily basis, whereas 36 per cent pray two to three times per month. Conversely, of the 49 per cent who pray “to ask for help,” 42 per cent pray regularly, and 59 per cent pray less frequently.
“I think people, when they get into a bind — and all of us get into binds — when someone gets sick, or something totally unexpected happens in our lives, and there’s a point of big uncertainty, a lot of people do it just in case,” Reid said. “It’s like the Hail Mary pass in football. There are a lot of people who stand for the Hail Mary pass and don’t know the words to the Hail Mary.”
Those who pray frequently claim in larger numbers that their prayers are heard and answered. Of the 35 per cent of people who say their prayers are answered always or often, 53 per cent pray regularly, compared with just 10 per cent who pray less frequently. Of the 21 per cent who say their prayers are rarely or never answered, nine per cent pray regularly, and 38 per cent pray less.
Reid said the most striking result was the evidence that prayer habits often carry through from childhood. The survey showed if people prayed as children, they were overwhelmingly more inclined to pray as adults, and the opposite was also true.
“Either it’s built in childhood, or it’s not,” Reid said.
He said there was no difference according to income or political affiliation.
Regardless of how frequently people pray, or whether they embrace or reject religion, the survey shows most people — 63 per cent — think prayer adds something to their lives.