Research on prayer

This article in the NY Times, and other things I've read about scientific studies on prayer, all completely miss one big point.

It seems as if most studies are set up with those who are sick divided into two groups - those who are being prayer for and those who aren't.  None of them know which group they've been assigned to.  Then, a group of people are given the names of one group and told to pray for them.  If the prayed-for group heals faster, that supposedly means prayer "works" or something like that.

Here's what they're missing:  all sick people, all over the world, are prayed for constantly.  It is impossible to place a sick person in a not-prayed for group, because that person is already being prayed for.  Think about it.  Did you pray today in church for all those who are sick?  I bet you did.  All who are sick.  And if you didn't, somewhere there's a group of nuns or monks or someone else who did. 

I'd be willing to make the claim that every single person alive today has been prayed for, by someone else, whether they know it or not.  We pray generalized prayers all the time - Lord, have mercy on all those who suffer in body, mind or spirit....Lord, we lift up the people of Iraq, Sudan, and all those in places ravaged by violence...

From the article:  "...many churchgoers are skeptical that prayer can be subjected to scientific scrutiny. For one thing, prayers vary in their purpose and content: some give praise, others petition for strength, many ask only that God's will be done. For another, not everyone sees God as one who does favors on request.

"There's no way to put God to the test, and that's exactly what you're doing when you design a study to see if God answers your prayers," said the Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence Jr., director of pastoral care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. "This whole exercise cheapens religion, and promotes an infantile theology that God is out there ready to miraculously defy the laws of nature in answer to a prayer."

I'd agree with all of that except the 'defy the laws of nature' part, if by that he means God is restricted by the laws of nature.  Look, I understand that we all struggle with prayer - what does it "do"?  Does it change things?  What about those we pray for who do not heal?  I'm not saying don't continue to ask these questions - but don't expect scientifically validated answers from studies that think they can somehow control prayer.