**EDIT** Nevermind, you basically answered my question as I was posting it.
Quote:
Just like a request by a son to a father for a ride to the mall might not result in a trip to the mall- but perhaps it leads to something else- going to the movies later, playing catch, who knows? The point is the access the son has to his father and that his father hears and responds, even if the father doesn't do exactly what the son asks.
This kind of explanation still seems to be working backwards from the notion that prayer does actually affect the outcome of whatever is being prayed for, but maybe not directly. Is this something universally believed by Christians?
My only experience in this realm was my 12 or so years as a church-going Catholic. I always remember being asked during mass to pray for various groups of people. At the time, I felt like I was being asked to do so in the hopes that it would change the plight of (the elderly | the poor | insert downtrodden group here).
Is this a uniquely Catholic notion, or is it espoused by other Christian denominations?
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