When one sneezes and another says “bless you,” is that a genuine prayer for their benefit? Most people will utter that habitually and with little additional thought. It is also not very specific in instructing the divine to do anything in particular. Will the divine know the context in which those words were offered, and will that context play any part in determining how that prayer is utilized?

We can tell you that the context is all-important because we always follow the intent of any outreach to us and not particularly the words. The two usually go together but not always. Words can mean many different things to different people. People can use a prayer and not truly understand its original intent and the intent they are holding might bear only a faint resemblance to what can potentially be accomplished with that same prayer wording, but if they are not holding the intention to encompass a deep understanding and a precise interpretation of what is intended to make it the highest and best and most effective prayer using those words, we are restricted to the intention the one who prays brings to the task, and will only mount a weak or partial response that measures the investment of the one saying the prayer. This is simply following the rules of engagement in how we interact with human beings—the burden is on them always in everything they do—to be clear, to be prepared, to be knowledgeable, and to invest of their own energy by being in earnest, being honest, and giving a clear direction to think about the meaning of what they are saying to us so it is imbued with the proper and most accurate instructions about what is wanted. The practice culturally of saying "bless you" when one sneezes is a carryover from a long, long history of people who would actually pray for others who are showing a sign of illness in the attempt to ward off that consequence. In the modern world, this is not usually a person’s conscious intention, they are simply doing it out of convention as a kind of friendly gesture as in saying "hello" on greeting someone or saying "excuse me" if they intrude or disrupt something the other person is doing inadvertently. It is simply an act of kindness reflecting a sympathetic thought but no more than that. Unless the person is truly spiritual and thinking about wanting the divine to assist them, if need be, with an underlying cause that could bring great harm, only then would that constitute a prayer, to say "bless you" after someone sneezes. We will always know the context because we follow the intention more than the words that people utter—that is what truly matters. So we will not be fooled by a great display of fervent prayer that is putting on a false face, pretending to be in earnest when one truly does not feel that level of caring.