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The primary caregiver shows a strong dislike of te and sustain mental health.
the neediness of the child and supports inde- In this article I argue that certain types of prayer
pendent behaviour that are inappropriate for could lead to an I-share experience with God
a child. The insecure (ambivalent) attachment and increases trust in God and a secure attach-
disorder develops when the primary caregiver ment to God. When this happens, it will defend
is unpredictable in the care that they provide. against a high degree of existential anxiety and
The insecure (disorganised) attachment ori- isolation.
entation develops when the individual suffers
some kind of trauma related to the parent. Re- Keller (2014) argues that prayer is a global phe-
search indicates that EI correlates with avoidant nomenon. It is not limited to monotheistic reli-
attachment orientation. This means that these gions, but Buddhists use prayer wheels, Hindus
individuals are more likely to develop a high de- pray to several gods with the ultimate purpose
gree of EI than the rest of the population. of union with the Brahman, the Supreme Being,
and some cultures pray through singing. There
As mentioned above a high degree of EI put seems to be a human instinct for prayer. Howe-
people at risk to experience an increased state of ver, not all prayers are the same. Some prayers
social isolation, develop depression and an in- have an inward focus, also viewed as meditative
crease in the contemplation of death thoughts. prayer, while others seek to communicate with
It is thus important to look at strategies that a personal God that is transcendent (Keller,
could be implemented to defend against a high 2014). Heiler, a German scholar (cited in Kel-
degree of EI and maintain mental health. Some ler, 2014), argues that inward prayer is mysti-
of the strategies that people currently use to de- cal and outwardly focused prayer or a petition
fend against a high degree of EI, include to assu- form prayer to a personal divine being, is “pro-
me that significant others share the same emo- phetic”. In Heiler’s view, mystical prayer empha-
tions and ideas they have or to overestimate the sized God as immanent and we meet God when
number of people who share their beliefs and we turn inward to find him in the very depth
attitudes. Helm et al. (2020) propose I-sharing of ourselves. The form of prayer is viewed as a
as a method to help people with an elevated mystical wordless encounter. “Prophetic pray-
EI to develop a better cultural anxiety buffer. er” emphasized God as transcendent and the
The I-share method refers to an interpersonal wholly “other” and prayer is a conversation.
moment when individuals feel they are having
the exact same experience at the same time. In Jonathan Edwards, the well-known theologian,
contrast to Me-sharing that refers to the con- describes his experiences in prayer as a conver-
cepts used to describe one-self, I-sharing refers sation with a personal transcendent God, but
to subjective self and the feelings, thoughts, with mystical overtones. Edwards describes one
dreams and physical reactions of the self that of his prayer encounters as a time of harmony
connect with another person, for example, so- between something in his heart and the sweet
meone giggles at the same time, or cries at the Word of God that he was meditating on. He
same moment over the same issue. According does not experience a wordless calmness but
to these authors, I-share buffers against existen- a deep connection to the One who speaks the
tial isolation. Words. Keller further asserts that the human
instinct to pray is a response to the sensus di-
Several questions concerning an elevated EI and vinitatis, coined by Calvin as the seed of religi-
its threat to mental health arise from a Christi- on planted in all or an awareness of the divinity
an psychological perspective. These include, that all humans have. Prayer is a spiritual gift.
amongst others, how a secure God-attachment When through prayer our understanding of
defends against EI and whether conversing with God becomes clearer and we are born again by
the three persons of the Godhead, (the Trinity) the Spirit through faith in Christ (John 1: 12-
through prayer could increase a sense of relatio- 13), we become aware that we are children of
nal belonging and meaning in life, thus promo- God and deeply connected in our existence to

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