Abstract
Prayer is an important aspect of many people's daily lives, yet little is known about the relationships between prayer and daily experiences and well-being in ecologically valid settings. In three studies, participants (N = 350) completed questionnaires once a day for 2 weeks (4,437 daily reports) regarding the events they experienced each day, their emotions, well-being, and the prominence of the four types of prayer constituting the ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication) taxonomy. Thanksgiving and adoration were more prominent in prayers on days when positive events were reported and well-being was high (relative to individuals' own average reports of positive events and well-being). In contrast, supplication was more prominent on days when negative events were reported and well-being was low. Relationships between daily events, states of well-being, and prayers of confession were mixed. Lagged analyses indicated that present-day supplication, thanksgiving, and adoration negatively predicted well-being the following day. These lagged effects were weaker among people who prayed more frequently. Finally, each prayer type was predicted by distinct, nonreligious emotional states-supplication by envy, thanksgiving by gratitude, confession by guilt, and adoration by awe. By moving beyond cross-sectional and experimental paradigms, we have provided insights about the dynamic nature of prayer through repeated measurement in naturalistic contexts. The content of individuals' prayers reflects their daily experiences and has consequences for their well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).