Are answered prayers evidence for a providential God?

Skeptics frequently complain at the lack of evidence for miraculous divine intervention in the world today. Philosophers of religion call this the problem of divine hiddenness: if there is a God then why is there not better evidence for him? Why does he so often seem to be hidden? Petitionary prayer is one example. Christians believe in a God who answers prayer, so why don't we have more examples of prayers that lead to discernable effects in the world?

 In an earlier post I wrote: "I believe there are many powerful examples of the power of prayer." beetle496 replied, "So why cannot I find even one that stands up to modest skepticism?"

But what does that mean? What is "modest skepticism"? Perhaps beetle496 means this:

"So why cannot I find one that establishes the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt?"

If that is the case then I ask: what are the factors for a putative case of answered prayer that would establish the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt? To ask this is to place the skepticism of folks like beetle496 under the microscope by asking whether it is in fact a reasonable skepticism.

Let me give you a couple examples of answered prayer to think about.

First, there is the case of a child afflicted by a potentially fatal type of cancer. (I discuss this case in chapter three of my book Faith lacking understanding.) Just before she was about to begin a very difficult bout of treatments, her family and friends gathered for prayer. After praying for healing she was tested and no evidence of cancer was found in her body. Even the doctors viewed this "spontaneous remission" as miraculous.

So is this sufficient? Probably the correct answer is sufficient for whom? You can bet it was sufficient for the child and her parents. Even so, a skeptic could always attribute it to the as yet not fully understood powers of the human body.

Second, there is the case of philosopher William Lane Craig. Back in the 1980s he began raising funds to serve as a missionary reaching European university students. After some time of intense deputation (fund-raising) he had come up $300 short per month in support. Having exhausted all avenues of support, Craig prayed about it. Then he received a phone call from a man at one of the churches he had visited. The man called to say that God had laid it upon his heart to support Craig at $300 per month.

Again who is this sufficient for? It certainly testified to the power of prayer for Craig. Even so, I can hear the skeptic saying: "Three hundred bucks? It could be chance." Sure it could be. But how "fortuitious" do the circumstances have to be before one draws a reasonable inference that prayer makes a difference? Perhaps the skeptic would be compelled if Craig needed $312.45 and the man then pledged $312.45?

On the other hand, I suspect many skeptics would adopt a Humean line (David Hume) according to which they would always prefer to doubt the reliability of the witnesses. Maybe Craig fabricated the events. Maybe the man heard of his specific need somehow. Maybe.