The power of prayer: Among the St. Louis faithful, many say they’d be lost without it

In this week when many St. Louisans and others around the country gather for the Thanksgiving holiday, before they dive into the turkey and pumpkin pie, they will pray. But why? Why does prayer remain so important to many people at a time when, according to the Pew Research Center, the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing ? It’s mostly because prayer is a given for people who follow almost any faith tradition, according to Shane Sharp, an associate professor of sociology at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.