When Prayer Does Not Cure an Illness: How Religion Explains Inconvenient Reality

The other day, I was reading an advice column and came across a question about religion.

The writer followed a particular religion but had not experienced the promised effects, no matter how much they prayed. How should they make sense of that?

Reading it made me think again about the difficulty of religion.

Religions promising worldly benefits—such as “believe and your illness will be cured” or “pray and your fortunes will improve”—have existed for centuries.

In reality, however, some illnesses do not respond to prayer, and even devout believers can fail in business.

So how does religion explain these inconvenient realities?

When Prayer Has No Effect

Religions that emphasize worldly benefits have some remarkably convenient explanations.

Suppose, for example, that an illness is not cured.

“It would have become much worse, but your faith kept it from progressing further.”

Or:

“This is a trial given to you, and overcoming it will help your soul grow.”

And if that still does not work:

“Even if you are not rewarded in this life, you will certainly be rewarded in the next.”

I see. With explanations like these, any outcome can be accounted for.

If the illness is cured, it is thanks to faith. If it is not cured, that too is thanks to faith. Even if it worsens, there must be some deeper meaning behind it.

Success becomes evidence that the teaching was correct, while failure never becomes evidence that it was wrong.

It is quite an invincible theory.

Of course, this mechanism is not limited to religion. Similar patterns can be found in investment predictions and dubious health remedies.

Monotheistic Religions Have “God’s Will”

What about monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Islam?

They have the concept of “God’s will.”

Even when humans cannot understand it, God has a plan. Why did I become ill? Why did misfortune strike me? Human beings may not be capable of fully understanding the reasons.

In one sense, this is an extremely powerful idea.

God never promised to grant every human wish in the first place, so an unanswered prayer does not by itself prove that the faith was mistaken.

For the person who is suffering, however, this can also be a very harsh answer.

“Why am I the only one who has to suffer like this?”

“It is God’s will.”

Some people may find that answer sufficient, but I would want a little more explanation.

In fact, monotheistic religions themselves have debated the meaning of suffering for centuries. It is probably not a question that can be resolved simply by saying, “It is God’s will.”

Shinto Is Somewhat Different to Begin With

Shinto in Japan has a different character.

Shinto has neither a unified scripture comparable to the Christian Bible nor a systematic doctrine taught by a founder.

Reverence for nature and countless deities, along with rituals such as festivals and purification, occupies a central place.

Of course, people visit shrines to pray for success in business or recovery from illness. Shinto is not entirely separate from worldly benefits.

But Shinto as a whole is not built around a theory that says, “If you believe this teaching, you are guaranteed salvation.”

Few people would pray for good health during the first shrine visit of the New Year, catch a cold afterward, and become angry that Shinto doctrine had been proven wrong.

After all, they probably do not remember entering into such an explicit agreement in the first place.

Buddhism Addresses Suffering Itself

Buddhism is also interesting.

Early Buddhism placed more emphasis on why human beings suffer and how they might be freed from suffering than on methods for curing illness or becoming wealthy.

Rather than asking how to avoid illness, it asks how human beings—who cannot escape sickness, aging, and death—should face them.

From this perspective, an illness remaining uncured despite prayer does not necessarily represent a failure of the teaching.

Still, telling someone who is suffering from an illness to “let go of attachment” is unlikely to satisfy them easily.

Over its long history, Buddhism itself has incorporated various worldly benefits, including prayers for recovery from illness and protection from misfortune.

Human beings may want enlightenment, but first they would also like the illness directly in front of them to go away.

What Is Religion Promising?

Seen this way, religions differ greatly from one another.

Some emphasize fulfilling wishes in this world. Some teach acceptance of God’s will. Some focus on relationships with nature and deities, while others teach ways of confronting suffering.

So the question “Is religion useful?” may itself be too broad.

Still, returning to the original advice letter, one thing bothers me.

If faith brings someone peace of mind or helps them accept a painful situation, that alone may be meaningful enough for that person.

But if someone joins after being told, “Believe and your illness will be cured,” only to hear, once it is not cured, that “faith is really about spiritual growth,” I cannot help feeling dissatisfied.

The original promise was that the illness would be cured. Somehow, the goal became turning into a person who could accept that it had not been cured.

Is that the profundity of religion, or is it simply changing the rules after the result is known?

At the very least, it is a very different story from the one presented at the beginning.