Isn't prayer linked with a God of some sort though?
I think that prayer was a poor choice of wording in the above article. I also think that you are too quick to think of pink unicorns and so mentally block what the research is saying. As a matter of fact, you think of pink unicorns much more than most people I know of. Got a bit of a fetish going on there?
I have participated in experiments of thought projection. I am involved in one right now. My friend and I are writing down when we send each other strong thoughts and when the other picks them up. You would not believe how accurate our times are. I think that we have missed it once.
There is a member on this forum that I have experimented with and gotten great results. Perhaps he will tell you his story. Perhaps not.
The mind is very powerful. We all have symbols and archetypes that work for us. Some better than others. If praying to a pink unicorn causes the praying person to believe, that belief will empower the mind and get better, quicker results. It isn't whom the petitioner is praying to, it is the intent and strength of the person's thought form.
Prayer, pink unicorns, whatever. All I am saying is, don't get distracted from what the evidence is saying. To do so would make you no different from the believers that you disdain.
Robyn