Skeptics often challenge Christians to prove that prayers are answered, and we often hear the same thing: "God's ways are mysterious". This is said so that scientific experiments that disprove the power of prayer are discounted as having an extra variable that can't be accounted for -- God's will.
But why should that be "variable"? Christians claim that God's nature is consistent and doesn't change over time. In fact, this perfect consistency ought to make God the most predictable being in existence, and not even slightly mysterious. If God answered someone's prayer for healing but not another person's, then the reason should be discoverable in principal if not also in practice.*
So why do Christians keep offering this defense? Why aren't they trying to discover God's unchanging nature by studying the pattern of which prayers are given which answers?
*On the topic of healing, the New Testament is extremely consistent. Jesus healed everyone who asked for it, never once citing a greater need for someone to remain sick or to die from sickness. If prayer is actually answered, then prayers for healing ought to never be answered with a "no" if Jesus' nature hasn't changed.
But why should that be "variable"? Christians claim that God's nature is consistent and doesn't change over time. In fact, this perfect consistency ought to make God the most predictable being in existence, and not even slightly mysterious. If God answered someone's prayer for healing but not another person's, then the reason should be discoverable in principal if not also in practice.*
So why do Christians keep offering this defense? Why aren't they trying to discover God's unchanging nature by studying the pattern of which prayers are given which answers?
*On the topic of healing, the New Testament is extremely consistent. Jesus healed everyone who asked for it, never once citing a greater need for someone to remain sick or to die from sickness. If prayer is actually answered, then prayers for healing ought to never be answered with a "no" if Jesus' nature hasn't changed.