Prayer and Inner Speech: Is There a Connection?

Abstract

The present study explored the relation between frequency of prayer, inner speech, and self-efficacy for a sample of 134 Germany adults (88 women and 46 men). It was hypothesized that prayer activity by adults is functionally related to inner speech, and both might result in higher self-efficacy, but the findings challenge the notion that inner speech is associated with frequency of prayer and self-efficacy. More importantly, significant negative correlations were found between self-efficacy and both the measures of frequency of prayer (r = –.28) and church attendance (r = –.44). Further research is needed to relate inner speech to different types of private prayer, given that this sample comprised irregular churchgoers who prayed “never” or “sometimes.”