Why do we pray...?

When someone falls sick we just start praying. All elders say that praying will improve a person’s health. I used to wonder how. How will someone’s health improve by my prayers? Elders say that there exists a health account to which we should keep adding good fortune by praying or chanting. I used to agitate that how does good fortune come from praying/ chanting? I then came across the theory of cause and effect, which said do something (cause) to gain something (effect). That doing something is nothing but praying or chanting and gaining something is nothing but gaining good health. When a person falls sick, his health karma is low. It means we have to add something to his health account to help it improve its value and thereby the person’s health. We cannot add health. What do we add then? This improvement in the balance of health account comes collectively when we all pray for that person’s speedy recovery. So we are making a cause (praying) to see an effect (improvement of health). Had we not prayed; may be his health karma would deteriorate further and would have lead to dire consequences. It is said correctly, our life is heavily influenced by the “cause and the effect theory”. Examples are
· You should sow hard work to reap benefits.
· Every action has an opposite and equal reaction.
· The boomerang once thrown will return back.
· Only if you give yourself a chance only then will you have a chance to win.
Cause made will show its effect. All the above statements have a common thread. That is cause and effect. So the next time we fall in a difficult situation we now know what to do.
PRAY/CHANT.