Referencing the previous post here, G. Robson wrote me to say…
The religiously-minded would perhaps point out that the scientific discoveries that cured those 10 diseases came about as a result of prayer (and a lot of research and hard work of course).
And that's fine. I personally don't think praying does anything except make the person doing the praying feel better and perhaps pleasing others who have a personal stake in what is being prayed-for occurring. But that's not nothing. And as far as I can tell, no one can or should stop anyone from praying at any time for anything. They can maybe stop you from insisting others pray along with you or they can say, when what was prayed-for comes to pass, that it's not the praying that did that…that it wouldn't have happened without the science.
On the other hand, it's quite possible to impede or even stop science from advancing or being applied. That can be fatal and often is.