Ten years ago, I begged God to help me do what I could not alone. Like millions of other smokers, I had struggled for years to quit and failed every time. Although a cradle Catholic, my prayers were rusty and I had only recently started going to church again. Yet a strong and loving voice that I was certain belonged to God suddenly said, clear as a bell: “I will make this easy for you.” I felt calm and free. I have not smoked since, nor wanted to. Unfortunately, the voice also said: “But you have to tell people how I helped you.” Now, surely, came the hard part. I wasn’t good or devout, I was a doubting Thomas and worked in the cynical media. I was certain that if I told people God had spoken to me, they’d think me vain, mad or a “God Botherer”. It turns out, though, that I needn’t have worried. When I wrote a piece about my experience for The Daily Telegraph at the start of the year, it generated a substantial and supportive postbag. Now I know why. According to new research commissioned by the Church of England, a staggering six people in seven believe in the power of prayer – despite the dramatic drop in formal religious observance. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/rel...r-The-power-of-prayer-has-helped-so-many.html
We should never encourage prayer to a "higher power" outside the Father revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ. We might as well let people blindly pray to demigods called Satah, Astaroth, and Ahura Mazda. "Prayer" is not powerful; the Holy God Almighty is powerful. Being "non-religious" (i.e. scorning the company of your brothers & sisters, the family of God) is not a good or even a neutral thing. Christ demands hot or cold - and to spurn the gathered Body of Christ is not "on fire with prayer", but cold with conceit, selfishness, and the lonely emptiness of fallen humanity. It's dangerous to just espouse all prayer by "spiritual" persons. We make mockery of the Gospel and find common cause with The World. The good thing I can see about this is the potential of leading people to the true God via such experiences & convictions.