My pastor once said that when he was in the hospital, he felt very sick until people started praying for him - then he started feeling better! He didn't even know they were praying for him! Such is the power of prayer!!
Oddly enough, I didn't find that anecdote believable in the slightest. If God answers prayers in that fashion, then life is a popularity contest. "Hey, I've got 1300 people praying for me!" "Oh yeah? Well I'm the freakin' POPE."
When people tell me they'll pray for me, which is often enough, I never feel any different at all. Is that because they aren't praying for me? That would be dishonest and un-Christian. Is it because God just doesn't let prayers get through to unbelievers? You'd think it would be just the opposite - God would be channeling his energy specifically toward those who aren't already followers.
Seriously, if you're going to preach that prayer has real power - and that there is evidence to back this up - then you'd better be prepared with volumes of documented and confirmed evidence.
JerryL - have you ever read "Losing Faith in Faith?" Barker describes this same kind of request he asks of fundamentalists to 'prove' that their faith is something more than just a psychological phenomenon. Jesus states (more or less, I'm not quoting exactly because I'm lazy) that through faith, man can move mountians. Therefore, unless someone can actually move a mountain simply through prayer or other act of faith, this statement must be false. How powerful, then, is prayer?