Some people believe in the power of prayer. Others don't. Those who don't are perhaps more likely to put their faith in science. So Lynn McTaggart's scientific approach to prayer in “The Power of Eight” (2017) may come as surprise.

McTaggart, who begins by describing herself as "a hard-nosed reporter," more often uses the term intention than prayer, perhaps to give her work a more scientific air. Her thesis is that a group of people — eight being an ideal number, she finds, though sometimes her groups number in the thousands — can lead to physical healing, decreased crime rates, improved relationships and even peace in war zones when everyone intends at the same time that such things take place.

Her early work took the form of actual scientific experiments, complete with control groups. Her groups intended that certain plants grow at a faster rate than other plants, and that is exactly what happened. In what she calls the Peace Intention Experiment, a large number of people around the world all focusing on peace in Sri Lanka at the same time led to a sudden decrease in hostilities there in 2008. "This was like entering another dimension," she writes.

The author reports scores of positive results from her Power of Eight groups. Here is a partial list: "Kristi's digestive issues disappeared; Marie began attracting new tax clients with no effort; Bev reconciled with her estranged brothers; Iris's chronic congestion began clearing up; Martha's insomnia completely resolved." Individually none of these occurrences could be described necessarily as a miracle. Taken as a group these and countless other examples make one wonder.

Yet the benefits of intention or prayer fall not just on the targets of these intentions and prayers but also on members of those groups. She calls it the Mirror Effect. "Focusing on healing someone else brings on a mirrored blessing." It helps explain, she writes, why people who attend church services regularly on average live seven years longer than those who don't.

Hers is a remarkable book, one that will tempt readers to conduct their own experiments in prayer. ( )

Meh.
Love the spirit, thoughts, ideas and studies but it is a very poorly written (and edited) book. Very repetitive. And I don't think there was a study in there that was new to me. THAT SAID, it inspired me to create a Power of 8 group, so... there's that! ( )

It was OK. I can't bring myself to say I liked it. It could have been a 1,000 word report of findings. I didn't need to know how Sarah's aunt's kidney healed. I finished the book for two reasons: (1) someone I like was enthusiastic about it and wanted me to read it. (2) There is something here.
The larger experiments with non-violence were compelling.

Our intentions/prayer/blessing/focus does matter and it matters in groups. 8 is great group size. It works in amazing ways : starlings are able to form large mobile groups but the basic unit is 8 birds communicating with each other. Long ago, when my husband was in the diplomatic corps, and I was experimenting with tables and how to facilitate good dinner table conversation, that round tables (as opposed to rectangular) and 8 settings (as opposed to 10) worked best.

This book has spurred me to be more intentional, to pray with focus and to look for others inclined to do this together in a group of 8. ( )