I completely disagree. I've seen prayer itself do miraculous things, you would say I'm a lunatic and a freak if I told you what prayer to God has done for me. Prayer set my uncle free from alcoholism...AA couldn't help him it was God and the prayer that set him free from that addiction and to this day he ministers about what God had done for him. Prayer healed my friend who had a rare cancer and was left by the doctors to die...an entire church gathered to pray for her and she was healed. A family member of mine was near death and prayer kept her alive and I'm talking about being at the point when medicines and treatment can do nothing for you....I could go on and on about the power of prayer.
Medicines/treatment can only go so far. Most medications only cover up the problem/symptoms, but only prayer has the power to penetrate into soul and spirit. I understand where you're coming from but their isn't some "higher power". It's God and I do believe that prayer is so powerful that it can save a marriage...even a royal marriage.
I would not call anyone a lunatic or a freak who espoused a belief in a God or Gods, now matter how vehemently I disagree with their opinions. You can be on opposite sides of an issue (such as this) with someone, and not resort to name-calling like that.
I'm just really, really uncomfortable with the idea that people believe prayer actually heals. To me, it's an insult to doctors, nurses, medical professionals everywhere. It's like you're saying what they do doesn't really matter, since it's not really in their hands. I'm also more than a little unnerved by you thinking that most medicines just "cover up" symptoms/problems, rather than heal them or cure them. Some medicines, because of the illnesses they treat, can only do that because there is no cure. Their job is to treat the illness and to make the patient as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Not all of them are like that, and it's sad that you think so. It's great that your friend was able to regain health, and her cancer went into remission, but that happens all the time around the country to scores of people. My cousin had diabetes for years, she went through all the steps with injecting insulin, watching her diet, checking her blood glucose level....she did this for 12 years. Then she goes to the doctor one day, and discovers her diabetes is in remission. She asks the doctor how that happened, and she was told that it just happens sometimes, that the body is remarkable at healing itself. Did her very religious Mormon family and fellow churchgoers' prayers do this? No, her pancreas did. Diabetes can go into remission in pets as well, if their diet and blood sugar is regulated long enough. It's not prayer, it's not a belief in a God or Gods that causes that to happen, it's the individual's body healing itself. Which like I said, happens all the time. Just because there may not be a medical explanation for it at this time doesn't mean it is a religious phenomenon or experience. This isn't an either/or proposition.
Praying that people do what you want them to do, in situations other than life or death, removes that person's free will, since you're asking some other being to step in and alter their behavior. People are going to behave the way they're going to behave, because humans are humans and they must be free to make their own choices, good bad or indifferent. Free will is an essential component to humanity. Taking it away makes the person less than human. I believe in keeping the essence of humanity in all people, and allowing them to make their own choices, and hoping that they learn from those choices, no matter what they were.