Many dieters who combine prayer with changes to their eating patterns have smaller or larger degrees of faith that they will receive an answer to prayer. When you pray, the faith or belief that someone higher than yourself loves you and desires you to be healthy may prevent binges.

Prayer acknowledges that you no longer want food to be a slavemaster over you. Food is a tool to access the necessary energy to carry out the day's responsibilities. Food should never be in control of the dieter. Prayer ends food's powerful control over your life and allows God to have the control over your most vulnerable area.

Prayer is a positive action. It is not just wishful thinking. Prayer can be an affirmation of your desire to overcome temptations to eat an unbalanced diet or overeat. A positive action reinforces a positive attitude. This has been discovered in individual case studies of patients with chronic diseases.

Prayer reinforces the belief that with an all-powerful God in control, all things are possible. It allows you to believe you can have victory over your food urges. When you pray, you reaffirm your commitment to your short term and long term goals.