A new survey has found more than a third of UK adults believe prayer can help them overcome mental health struggles.
The poll, conducted by Savanta ComRes and commissioned by the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, revealed 38 per cent of UK adults believe that prayer is good for their mental health.
“We are often told that we live in a secular society. But it's not true. And we're seeing an undercurrent now under growing movement of people in this country having more spiritual awareness,” the founder of the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer Richard Gamble told Premier.
The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer is a new national landmark which will eclipse the size of the Angel of the North and aims to profile a million answered prayers on a site at Coleshill on the outskirts of Birmingham.
When asked whether there is a risk prayer is seen as just another form of therapy for mental health problems, Gamble said: “What we have seen in our culture is the dumbing down of prayer. I mean, even on the front page of a newspaper, before the women's US Open, [said] we're praying for you. Now, I, I very much doubt that that is what we would think is praying.”
“I think the word prayer has been dumbed down, devalued as just a throwaway comment of hope that makes everybody feel good about themselves. What we have to do as Christians is educate, encourage, and inspire people to really engage with God when they're praying.”
Having asked 2,075 UK adults aged 18 and over, the survey also found that more than half (53 per cent) are anxious about the mental health of the next generation and almost half (45 per cent) are anxious about their own future.
“I believe that there is a lot of fear and anxiety,” Gamble said. “There is a danger sometimes that facts can overshadow the truth. And, our job as Christians is to keep bringing people back to the truth.”
“When facts come that bring anxiety, I have to go ‘wait a second, Jesus is my provider of peace’. And that's where the engagement comes. And of course, with the eternal wall of answered prayer, that is exactly what we are doing. We are trying to communicate to this nation and to generations.”
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