I had a catastrophic massive stroke nine years ago. I taught myself to talk, walk & move my hand. I’m an atheist. What do the religious people say if I announce that prayers don’t work, but neuroplasticity & exercise does?

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I’m not much of a theist, but I have three things to say to you.

That if prayer isn’t helping you, then you’re not really doing it. Not even theists expect prayer to directly change things. Prayer isn’t the Force. Instead prayer helps by allowing you to accept situations as they are. Once you can accept things as they are, then you’ll stop contributing to poor outcomes. Not contributing to poor outcomes creates space for serendipity. You decided to work on your condition without the benefit of prayer. Great for you that you were able to help yourself heal, but you can’t say how much better off you’d have been if you could find it in your heart to ask God.
That prayer improves neuroplasticity.
That God helps people who help themselves. You could have had a variant of the condition that you couldn’t work on yourself. You’re not seeing God’s true grace by expecting him to solve all your problems for you.