What Would the World Be Like Without Prayer?

In light of all the talk about the power of prayer going on today, I was reminded of my 2012 interview with “Nashville” and “General Hospital” actor Jonathan Jackson, during which I asked him why he thanked the monks of Mount Athos during his Daytime Emmy Award acceptance speech.

He explained that he’d never been to “the Holy Mountain,” as it’s called in Greece. Yet he saw documentaries about it and was impressed by the fact that the monks in all the monasteries there have been praying around the clock for 1,000 years: “These people [are] dedicating their lives to prayer, and not just praying for themselves, but truly praying for all of us. And then the thought kind of crossed my mind: with all the destruction, chaos and insanity that goes on in this world, if their prayers weren’t happening, what would this world be like? I felt personally like I just wanted to thank them because I really believe that their prayers mean a lot.”