Praying is a central to the Christian life. But what is the purpose of prayers? Can the human mind be so configured that god does not know its content? If god already know the present and future state of our minds, then he must know our desires. So whence the need for prayers?

The bible is replete with passages where Jesus is quoted as say that ANYTHING that one asks for in HIS name will be given onto them. Really, ANYTHING? Yes, there are no further qualifications to this verse. To these I have the following questions;

1) What would be the result of praying for an event that would violate natural laws?

2) What would be the result of praying for a morally reprehensible outcome?

3) There are trillions of times when an outcome has been counter to what was asked for in prayer (for instance, the death of loved ones in spite of prayers). Were these prayers not answered?

BTW, what is the unit of prayer? (the equivalent of the SI units of measurement). For instance, can one say a gallon [/b]of 20 prayers; or a [b]host [/b]of 100 prayers; or a [b]fleet of prayers? When an entire congregation is involved in prayers, what is the collective noun for this many prayers?

Well in my humble opinion and I claim no authority in this subject but it seems to me you have already answered your own question, I do not see any reason for prayers. I also do not see the evidence for prayers working for anyone, it cannot actually be proved either way.

However it seems obvious to me that when you take an example of an amputee who would desperately want his or her limbs back no matter the amount of prayer would bring those limbs back. The only thing capable of giving back limbs today is modern medical technology which may provide the amputee with a new artificial limb if they are able to afford one by whatever means. So the question here is does God hate amputees or does the loss of ones limbs automatically negate the power of prayers?

Another issue I personally have with faith in prayer is the idea that I can pray for a raise or a better job or more prosperity than i currently enjoy and expect to have those prayers answered quickly even though I would imagine several other prayers if not presented to God earlier than mine carry more weight (such as a family in Dafur praying for the genocide on their people to stop).

Finally I would submit that prayers are useless and do not work because if God exists we have no idea what he she or it is up to or wants and we also have no reason to believe that he gives a damn what is happening in the lives of individuals or even on the planet because the scientific evidence shows otherwise for now.