A majority of American voters believe that calls for public outpouring of prayer after a national tragedy are helpful, a recent survey says.
The survey, conducted by Summit.org, in partnership with McLaughlin and Associates, was prompted by the national call to prayer following Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the football field during a nationally televised game Jan. 2.
The survey was taken Jan. 19-23, less than three weeks later. It polled 1,000 likely general election voters across the country, including Democrat and Republican.
“This poll reveals that public calls to prayer after Damar Hamlin’s collapse from cardiac arrest on national television and through his miraculous healing have, at least for the moment, brought Americans together across the partisan divide,” said Dr. Jeff Myers, president of Summit.org.
Franklin Graham has often called on people to pray.
“There’s nothing more powerful for believers to do in a time of need than to call out to God,” Franklin said. “God promises to hear and answer please from His people according to His gracious will.” Where?
After Hamlin’s collapse, prominent members of the NFL community and sports commentators were led to publicly call for prayer and that resonated with the vast majority of Americans, Myers said.
“Unfortunately, young Americans seem more cynical about prayer, with a higher percentage than other age groups saying such calls to prayer are pointless,” he added. “But with many young athletes now publicly expressing their faith, perhaps the hearts of the rising generation will be more open to the very real power of faith and prayer.”
According to the survey:
- 67.3% of voters believe that public calls for prayer after a national tragedy are effective in light of the public outpouring of prayer for NFL player Damar Hamlin; 19.7 percent believe such prayers are pointless, and 13.1% say they don’t know.
- Belief in effectiveness of public outpouring of prayer after national tragedy crosses partisan divides: 65.4% of Democratic, 73% of Republican, and 62.4% of Independent voters agree.
- Young American voters are most likely to say prayers are pointless after a national tragedy.
- 54.7% of voters aged 18-29 believe that public calls for prayer are effective. 27.3% say such calls are pointless, and 18% don’t know.
- 62.3% of voters aged 30-40 believe that public calls for prayer after a national tragedy are effective in light of the public outpouring of prayer for NFL player Damar Hamlin. 25.2% say calls to prayer are pointless, and 12.5% don’t know.
- 67.8% of voters aged 41-55 agree, 69.9% of voters aged 56-65 agree; 77.3% of voters over age 65 believe. 12.9% say calls to prayer are pointless, and 9.8% don’t know.
All interviews for the survey were conducted online. Invitations were distributed randomly within predetermined geographic units structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in the most recent election.
Bill Cheyrou / Alamy Stock Photo