Distant Intercessory Prayer

Distant Intercessory Prayer 1
Running head: INTERCESSORY PRAYER AND TASK PERFORMANCE
Distant Intercessory Prayer and Task Performance
Lynn M. Munson and Douglas Degelman
Vanguard University of Southern California
Distant Intercessory Prayer 2
Abstract
In an extension of research demonstrating causal effects of intercessory prayer for physical
healing in a medical setting, the present study experimentally examined the effects of
intercessory prayer for improved task performance in an employment setting. Trained
customer service representatives either did, or did not, receive (over a 14-day period) daily
intercessory prayer for the specific needs and challenges of their workplace. Speed of call
handling was evaluated for each customer service representative. The specific dependent
measures were number of calls per hour and number of seconds per call. No statistically
significant differences between prayer and non-prayer groups were found for either calls per
hour or second...