How Much Does Prayer Weigh?

Why scientists struggle to put this spiritual practice under the microscope.
Praying can be easy. A prayer can be a thought, a word, a heavenward plea from someone in need, a few lines said spontaneously or recited from a book, or even just a groan. Understanding what a prayer does after it leaves your lips is a little more difficult. Christian theologians have long debated how prayer works, and what it means to say it “works.” So have scientists.
Psychologist Kevin L. Ladd, a profes