There's some validity in placebo effect, I suppose. One of the purposes of religion is to give people a sense of hope in hopeless situations. Perhaps sometimes the belief that things will turn out right in the face of overwhelming odds that they won't, makes people hang in there just long enough for the freak event to come along and save them.

I don't have a problem with prayer or belief. It just isn't for me.

If done in the traditional manner prayer can actually do harm to the person who is praying. Often it is done from a position of supplication and reinforces the acceptance of an infirmity . Prayer does nothing to change objective reality, it does have the power to color the subjective reality of the person who is praying and of others who are hearing the prayer. For this reason prayer should always be expressed in a positive, affirmative manner. Using denial in prayer can also be effective for the same reason but must also be expressed in a positive manner. It takes a little more effort to express denials positively, so I don't use denials as often. Prayer can be effective for atheists as well if it is done in a positive, affirmative manner because its a psychological endeavor.

Prayer and worry are both a lot like riding a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere.

People in my area pray INSTEAD of helping (when they could help and make a meaningful difference), which seems horrible to me. Worse, a percentage will bully others, bragging that they prayed, which is actively mean, especially when there is an (already) hurting person needing help.

IMO, doing nothing harms less than either of those.

Prayer is closing your eyes, bowing your head, and then you start talking to yourself. That's it in a nutshell. As for effect of prayer it all depends on the charisma of the speaker and how others see the speaker, assuming that others are present at the time. There are no gods involved.

For many people history has shown, repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.

Isn't that problem enough?

If people find solace in it who am I to comment, so long as it doesn't harm any one. If a person who's being prayed for is happy with it so what?

It creates the illusion that god will handle everything. When it doesn't get handled, then the believer wonders what s/he did wrong. Or why s/he is less worthy than another believer who DID get blessed, in whatever way. And if you are waiting for god to fix things for you,you may neglect to take action yourself. For example, parents who pray for a child to be healed but don't take the kid to the doctor.

When are you giving this speech? I hope to hell it's not tomorrow!