There is no valid reason to believe that prayer to God yields results.

Now I accept my opponent's definitions, for this debate. So it seems to me that all I must do in order to win this debate is provide example's of win a prayer to God has yielded a result. I will present several When I first started this debate I thought that I might cite a ton of scriptural references of prayer but then I decided that I will use times when prayers have been granted me personally and the prayers of those around me. My Sister. Now the first account is the story of my younger sister. When my sister was born she had a ton of medical complications, heart problems, lung problems, etc. Now all of the doctors and nurses and everybody was pretty convinced my sister was not going to make it. My mother and father prayed the hardest they have ever prayed they prayed for a long time. Somehow my sister made it, even though every medical professional said that she would die, she made it and is now alive and healthy and has never had a medical problems out of the ordinary to this day. That testifies to the power of prayer. But let's look at some other examples My Grandfather's Paycheck My Grandfather had 10 children and a wife he had to provide for so as you can imagine sometimes money was a little tight around their house. One day my grandfather came home with his paycheck and he set it down somewhere then continued about dinner and all the other things he had to do that day. Eventually he remembered about his paycheck and he started looking for it. He looked everywhere in the house he tore the entire house apart because he could not find that paycheck that they desperately needed. He could not find it anywhere, so he knelt down by his bedside and prayed to the Lord, he prayed with full sincerity and immediately to his mind sprang the image of a rock in the garden, so he went out to the garden found that rock, lifted it up, and underneath was his paycheck. He never would've thought to have look there in a million years, and to this day he still has not the slightest clue how it got there, but he does know that had he not prayed he never would've found that paycheck. My Friend This is a personal experience of mine. I once had a friend that was in a really bad spot and I wanted to comfort her (no there was not a romantic interest), but I saying the right things have never really been my strong suit and I think I probably would've done more harm than good with what I would've said, but before I started my email to this friend I said a prayer and I asked that God would help me to say the right things to help this friend. I sat down at my computer and started typing however what I was typing wasn't what I had intended to type, however I got a strong feeling that I should write something else, so I followed that prompting and wrote a lovely email to my friend. A while later I got a response from my friend, wherein she thanked me for what I had said and told me it had really helped. Had I not said that prayer I doubt the Lord would've helped me write what I needed to. The First Vision. This isn't one that has happened to me or anyone I know personally but I feel I should include it anyway. Now a long time ago in the 1800's there was a boy who lived in Palmyra, New York. Now Palmyra is located in what as known as the burnt over district, so named because during the second great awaking it was one of the most heavily evangelized districts. Now this boy was really confused about which Church to join, so one day he came across a passage in his studying of the Bible James 1:5 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him [1] Now when he saw this scripture he decided to put it to the test. So one day he went to a grove of trees nearby his house and he started to pray, as soon as he opened his mouth a power set upon him and attempted to overcome him, it bound his tongue that he could not speak. Just as he was about to surrender completely to the power, a pillar of light appeared above him "above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. " As soon as the light appeared the power did flee. He then saw "two personages who glory and brightness did exceed all description" one of them spake unto him calling him by name, pointing to the other and said "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! " Now this young man of 14 years of age asked which of the churches he should join, he was told none of them. " Now this boy's name was Joseph Smith, and it seems to me that his prayer yielded a very real and valid result. [2] My Prayer This shall be my finally example of prayer. Now there was someone whom I very very much cared about, now through a series of actions and mistakes I let this person down a lot. Now she chose to not accept the Gospel and basically told me to piss off. Everyday since that one I have prayed to the Lord that he will soften her heart that she may accept the Gospel. I still have not had my prayer answered yet but I will continue to pray for her in every single prayer I make between now and when I pass on. In conclusion I have presented a host of examples where prayers to God have yielded results and been answered even though I only needed one I still have given a host of them. [2]Pearl of Great Price Joseph Smith -History 1:1-20 Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints