> Is there any point to prayer aside from making the prayee feel like he or she is doing something?
>
> -Faux "Wow! Not only did I join a religious discussion, I started one!" Pas

I posted this reply to a very similar question Faux Pas posted elsewhere on the web, and he asked me to copy it here so that it could be discussed by the larger audience this Forum brings. I'm glad to do just that, and also to edit my response to match the question as it was stated here. :-)

The basic theory I've heard (and I'm certainly no expert on this, so I won't be surprised if it isn't completely satisfying) is that when God gave us free will, that basically meant that He had to take His hands off for most things. If He just butted in and made everything perfect and good for us without us saying or doing anything, then that would take away some aspect of free will. The idea follows that prayer is something we can choose to do, with our own free will, to ask God to do something specific for us, which He will gladly do, because it's what He wants to do anyway.

The other thing to remember is that what we think of as "good" is often short-sighted from a Biblical perspective. Maybe we think that it would be good for the aunt in question to be healed of her illness, but maybe God knows that her time has come, she has done all that she needs to do, and it is better for her to be done with this world and stop worrying her descendents so. If she's going to Heaven, then she's got way better stuff waiting for her anyway, so who are we to say that her being cured is "good"?

Basically, the Bible says that we have been given stewardship of this world, to keep watch over on our own. We're free to govern any way we please, but if need something done that's beyond our own ability to accomplish, we can always call on the Boss to lend a helping hand. Of course, the boss sees the big picture, so sometimes He'll say no, just because He sees a better way, but if the request is good and valid and useful, he'll help out. That's the analogy to use, rather than the dog working for treats. :-)

Don Monkey