136,769 research outputs found
An empirical study of ordinary prayer
No full textThe aim of the thesis is to demonstrate the significance of ordinary prayer for the
study of ordinary theology, as conceived by Astley (2002), and to make an original
contribution to research in this field. For this purpose, in part one, the thesis begins
by establishing the relationship between ordinary theology and ordinary prayer,
followed by a review and evaluation of empirical studies relevant to ordinary prayer.
These studies are organised according to five themes: who prays, when people pray,
the subjective effects of prayer, the objective effects of prayer, and the content of
prayer. Part one concludes with a consideration of the significance of the empirical
prayer studies for the understanding of ordinary theology and ordinary theologians,
and demonstrates their practical importance to the Church. Based on the evidence
gathered thus far, a new methodology is proposed, which supports the detailed study
of ordinary prayer content found in prayer requests left in churches. The new
methodology involves the development of an analytical framework designed to
explore the content of ordinary prayer through the three components of reference,
intention, and objective. In part two, the analytical framework is employed in five
case studies: two case studies test the general framework through the analysis of two
different sets of prayer requests; one case study uses the general framework to
explore ordinary prayer and implicit religion; and two case studies use modifications
of the intention component of the framework in order to provide focused studies
relating to ordinary prayer and health and well-being and to ordinary prayer and the
activity of God in the world. The thesis concludes with an evaluative summary of the
contribution of ordinary prayer to ordinary theology in general and the contribution
of the new methodology to the study of ordinary prayer and ordinary theology in
particular
Psychological type and prayer preferences: a study among Anglican clergy in the United Kingdom
No full textThis study applies the framework of Jungian psychological type theory to define eight aspects of prayer preference, namely: introverted prayer, extraverted prayer, sensing prayer, intuitive prayer, feeling prayer, thinking prayer, judging prayer, and perceiving prayer. On the basis of data provided by 1,476 newly ordained Anglican clergy from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, eight 7-item scales were developed to access these aspects of prayer preferences. Significant correlations were found between each prayer preference and the relevant aspect of psychological type accessed by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. These data support the theory that psychological type influences the way in which people pray
Prayer and psychological health: a study among sixth-form pupils attending Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland
No full textEysenck's dimensional model of personality includes two indicators of psychological health, defined as neuroticism and psychoticism. In order to examine the association between psychological health and prayer, two samples of sixth-form pupils in Northern Ireland (16- to 18-year-olds) attending Catholic (N = 1246) and Protestant (N = 1060) schools completed the abbreviated Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire alongside a simple measure of prayer frequency. The data demonstrated a positive association between prayer frequency and better levels of psychological health as assessed by Eysenck's notion of psychoticism. Among pupils attending both Catholic and Protestant schools, higher levels of prayer were associated with lower psychoticism scores. Among pupils attending Catholic schools, however, higher levels of prayer were also associated with higher neuroticism scores
Prayer, purpose in life, and attitudes toward substances: a study among 13- to 15-year-olds in England and Wales
No full textThis study set out to examine the association between prayer frequency, purpose in life and attitude toward substances, among a sample of 2,563 13- to 15-year-old secondary school pupils in England and Wales. Multivariate models controlling for sex, school year and personality (as defined by the Eysenkian dimensional model) demonstrated that higher levels of purpose in life are associated with greater prayer frequency, and that more proscriptive attitudes toward substances are associated with both higher levels of purpose in life and greater prayer frequency. These findings are consistent with a model suggesting that prayer frequency promotes a more negative view of substances both directly and indirectly through cultivating a greater sense of purpose in life
Prayer, personality and happiness: a study among undergraduate students in Wales
No full textIn order to examine the association between prayer and happiness, a sample of 131 undergraduate students attending a university in Wales completed three measures: the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, the abbreviated Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised, and prayer frequency assessed on a 5-point scale. The data demonstrated a significant positive correlation between prayer frequency and happiness before controlling for individual differences in personality. After controlling for personality, however, this apparent association vanished
The meaning, practice and context of private prayer in late Anglo-Saxon England
No full textThis thesis is a detailed discussion of the relatively neglected subject of private prayer in late Anglo-Saxon England, mainly focusing on three eleventh-century monastic codices: the Galba Prayerbook (London, British Library Cotton Nero A. ii + Galba A. xiv), Ælfwine’s Prayerbook (London, British Library Cotton Titus D. xxvii + xxvi) and the Portiforium of St Wulstan (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 391). Chapter One provides a background to the following chapters by introducing a wide variety of English and Continental texts from the ninth century. This chapter demonstrates the many different prayer genres, prayer guides and attitudes to prayer which would be inherited by the late Anglo-Saxons. Chapter Two, which focuses on private adaptations of the canonical Offices, examines the different manuscript contexts in which private prayers were found. It argues that series of prayers were combined into increasingly sophisticated ordines for personal devotion, and that it was from these that the Special Offices arose. Chapter Three applies these concepts to prayers to the Holy Cross. After a discussion of the evidence for prayer before a cross, and involving the sign of the cross, it examines private prayer programmes based on the liturgy for Good Friday and those from which the Special Office of the Cross developed. Chapter Four turns to private confessions, arguing that these prayers were somewhat different from those hitherto discussed. It therefore begins with an exploration of the many kinds of confession which existed in the late Anglo-Saxon church, before examining a number of private confessional prayers in detail. Throughout this thesis, emphasis is placed on the bodily experience of prayer in its time and place, and upon the use of each text as it is found in the prayerbooks of eleventh-century England
The relationship of prayer and internal religiosity to mental and spiritual well-being
No full textPlan BThe purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between internal religiosity, including prayer, to well-being, which includes religious and existential well-being. A convenience sample of 60 Behavioral Health hospital patients from a Midwestern hospital were invited to participate in this study. Three instruments were used in addition to twelve demographic questions. All instruments used a likert scale and the demographic questions were multiple choice. The Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale (1972) was used to determine the level of the person's internal religious commitment. The Structure of Prayer Scale (1997) was used to determine the participant's prayer preference. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (1982) was used to determine a person's self reflected well-being personally and spiritually. The instruments were correlated using a Pearson Correlation. This study provides health professionals with correlated data about which clients are better able to adjust to the stresses of being mentally ill. Correlations may lead to research that supports causal relationships and allows health professionals to provide better support options for their clients who are mentally ill. Future studies could focus on understanding the relationship between a specific mental illnesses and religious or spiritual well-being. The future research could also foster greater internal religiosity and encourage the mentally ill to use specific types of prayer as an effective intervention to increase patient well-being
Current Controversies in Prenatal Diagnosis 1: Should MRI be performed on all fetuses with mild ventriculomegaly?
No full textA ventricular diameter of 10 mm correlates with more than two standard deviations of the normal and hence is qualified as ventriculomegaly. The relevance of this is dependent on whether there are associated infectious, genetic, or structural problems. The chance for neurodevelopmental delay in isolated ventriculomegaly less than 15 mm is 7.9% (4.7-11.1), and less if it is unilateral. It can be further divided in mild (10-12) or moderate (13-15), though this is not widely accepted. As part of the workup, structural assessment today may include ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging, or both. Discussants agreed that the diagnostic performance of both methods is as good as the expertise with which the images are acquired and interpreted. Discussants agreed that when the initial neurosonogram is normal, the likelihood of finding significant findings on MRI is low. Nevertheless, some anomalies may only be picked up or better worked out by fetal MRI. In utero follow-up is advocated, as progression may indicate a poorer outcome, and some conditions are only obvious late in pregnancy. Most benefit for future patients is expected from appropriate training in prenatal neuroimaging.status: Publishe
An examination of the psychodynamic effects on individuals using psalms of lament intentionally, in the form of ritual prayer, as a way of engaging with experiences of personal distress
No full textThe Psalter has formed the basis of Judeo-Christian worship since ancient times. It has served, and continues to serve, individuals and communities of faith as a foundation for communal and personal devotion. As a devotional tool it is unique in that it provides prayers which address God directly concerning the whole gamut of life experience. While the Psalms can be examined and analysed as a literary text, they must be used and experienced by people to more fully discover and recognize their power in providing a pathway for expressing life experience.
The lament psalms are of particular interest in this regard. There appears to be a reluctance, in some quarters, to employ them as an expression of prayer. As a result, the lament psalms as a way of engaging with experiences of personal distress, and voicing the reflections and responses such experiences produce, have often been ignored.
This study suggests that psalms of lament provide a framework for expressing personal distress in the context of prayer. The framework, identified as a matrix of lament, consists of various modes of articulation characterized as expressing, asserting, investing and imagining constellations. The study examines what happens when individuals, who have first been made aware of the matrix of lament and its constellations, use lament psalms for prayer. Praying of lament psalms in this study is embedded in a prescribed process through which participants engage with their experiences of personal distress.
As a result of such a process any significant psychodynamic changes which may take place can be observed, examined and explored, thereby, highlighting the efficacy of using lament psalms as a form of prayer. The study achieves this by examining the reflections and responses of selected individuals to see whether the process does in fact facilitate changes in the individual's levels of distress, sense of personal control over distress and the nature of relationship between the individual and God. The reflections and responses also provide some indication of how the process might 'birth' a fresh perspective on personal distress for those who choose to incorporate these psalms into their journey of faith
Thinking out of the box? A content analysis of the response to published research on the effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer
No full textA content analysis of the rapid email responses to a potentially controversial article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on the effect of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on a group of patients with bloodstream infection at a university hospital in Israel was performed. The content analysis revealed 12 main themes, of which the most predominant were negative and relating to methodological concerns or comments, and/or were religious in nature, often with direct reference to God. Further responses were of a satirical nature, mocking the study. It is concluded that perhaps the real strength of the paper lies not in the results of the study itself, but in the challenge to what constitutes conventional wisdom and the encouragement to readers of the BMJ to Think out of the box
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