Father Time would have helped him if he'd asked, but alas.
"Buddha, Zeus, God! One of you guys, do something! Help! Satan, you owe me!"
— Professor Farnsworth in Futurama, "The Farnsworth Parabox"
When times are truly desperate and Prayer Is a Last Resort, someone will not only pray, they'll pray to any god or gods out there, in order to cover all their bases.
A particularly Crazy-Prepared person might even carry around holy symbols and relics of multiple faiths, and have memorized prayers to go with each one, just in case they ever need divine help.
If All Myths Are True then presumably somebody up there might deign to make it an Answer to Prayers. The character might even play Religious Russian Roulette, offering to believe in whichever deity gets the job done.
Compare Pascal's Wager, which posits faith as the rational option, owing to expected payout. Often overlaps with Silly Prayer.
If an entire belief system works on this principle, you have an Interfaith Smoothie.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Angel Densetsu has a weird Calling Your Attacks variant. Heizo, Ryoko's Boyfriend-Blocking Dad, thinks that his daughter's love interest Seiichirou Kitano is a literal devil, and at one point tries to beat him to a pulp under the guise of martial arts training in his karate dojo. The various names he gives to his attacks during this fight are an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Christian, the last of which is a "Hallelujah Punch."
- Delicious in Dungeon: Attacked by intangible ghosts which none of the party can fight, Team Chef Senshi whips up some emergency multifaith holy water to drive them off by throwing together materials some culture, somewhere, considers capable of exorcisms: water, alcohol (a historical disinfectant and offering to gods), treasure bugs (substituting for scarab beetles), salt, sugar (since it looks the same as salt), assorted herbs, and monster innards, all boiled with candle flames. Then he pours the concoction into a jar, ties it with rope, and starts swinging it like a flail to bash ghosts. It works. After driving off the ghosts, Senshi discovers their Ghostly Chill has turned his holy water into slush, so he serves it up as sorbet, leading Marcille to wonder if they should really be eating something so demonstrably holy.
- The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya: In the film adaptation, when Kyon realizes he is stuck in an alternate universe where Haruhi is not present and the SOS Brigade doesn't exist, begins crying out to Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed (and H. P. Lovecraft) to save him.
Comic Strips
- Willie and Joe has one strip where Joe asks an allied Arab or Indian soldier if he knows any good Muslim prayers; as Joe puts it, "I don't wanna miss any bets."
Fan Works
- Bequeathed from Pale Estates: Monford Velaryon prays to the Old Gods and the New Gods for Queen Visenya's health and for her to birth a healthy baby boy to stabilize Westeros and restore the Targaryean dynasty. He explicitly leaves out the Red God, though, apparently due to some incident in the past that left him thoroughly turned against that faith.
- Codex Equus: During the "Cherub Cove Tech-Terror" Incident in Angel Vale, as Mirthful was knocked down by a Neo-NRF terrorist's shot and Stygian's struggling to hold off the dragon terrorist's Elemental Caster's barrage, Sherlock made a prayer to any god who would listen for aid. It works, as the apparition of the Angel briefly appeared before the shocked terrorist, distracting him long enough for Gerald to attack him in the back and for Sherlock to input the bypass codes needed to unseal a museum section where Chief Tere and the others were trapped in.
- If Despair Never Ended: Yasuhiro is seen praying to Buddha, Vishnu, Zeus, and whoever else is willing to listen to get him out of the school.
- A Game of Cat and Cat: Doctor Dude's apartment's 'wards' consist of various superstitions from different cultures, on the basis that since magic is real, they might as well be. He and his assistant throw coins into the house, splash the walls with white rum "for duppy," and hoard items said to protect against evil, such as herbs, nazar amulets, and omamori amulets. It somehow works.
If it works, it works. If it doesn't, we just lose a little money, that's all.
- The King Nobody Wanted: Hendry Bracken does a relatively sympathetic version of this when he does rituals of prayer to both the Old Gods and the Seven. While he freely admits to being driven by self-preservation, he really does seem to have grown up believing in and respecting both pantheons.
- Plural Possessive: Dinky Doo's thoughts upon being possessed by King Sombra is a desperate prayer to Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, Sapphire Shores the pop singer, and "whatever the griffon god is" to get the the spirit out of her head.
- Reunions: Chapter 8 ends with Catelyn praying to the Seven, the Old Gods, and any god who would listen for the safety of her daughter.
Films — Live-Action
- Hellboy (2004): Weaponized: Hellboy has a revolver known as the "Good Samaritan" that fires oversized rounds. He packs his standard rounds with materials that are harmful to a wide variety of supernatural threats: holy water, silver shavings, bits of white oak, etc. The gun itself was forged from a combination of Irish church bells, cold iron, silver, and other metals, and the grip contains fragments of the True Cross.
- Mad Max: Fury Road: During a tense moment, one of the runaway brides begins muttering to herself and making gestures. When asked what she's doing, she states she's praying.
Toast: To who?
The Dag: Anyone who's listening! - The Mummy (1999): When Imhotep is approaching him, Beni starts praying using Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu icons and prayers, none of which work. It's not until he reaches Judaism that Imhotep recognizes the Hebrew language as "the tongue of the slaves" and spares Beni's life in exchange for his services as a translator.
- The Siege of Firebase Gloria: Sergeant Major Hafner explicitly recommends this to the Soldiers and Marines defending the titular firebase.
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: After Ricks wrecks while chasing Jean Girard and thinks he's on fire, he strips down to his underwear and fights the track workers while desperately begging every deity and celebrity he can recall for help.
Ricky Bobby: Help me, Jesus! Help me, Jewish God! Help me, Allah! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me! Help me, Oprah Winfrey!
Literature
- Discworld, at the last count, had nearly four thousand Gods — and all of them exist — which means that the multi-faith prayer isn't just pragmatic, it's unavoidable.
- The Last Hero: The narration remarks that "oh, Mighty One!" is the Disc's religious equivalent to "to whom it may concern".
- One application is in the warding-off of vampires. If you can avoid your pursuing vampire for long enough, sooner or later you will find a holy symbol that works. Paranoid people tend to wear as many as possible at once, like a religiously-themed charm bracelet.
- Going Postal (Discworld): When Moist von Lipwig is standing on the gallows for what he believes will be his execution, he delivers a "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner that impresses the hangman:
Moist: I commend my soul to any god that can find it.
- Life of Pi is an interesting example, because Pi, the protagonist, actually sincerely believes in multiple religions. His exclamations to multiple deities isn't in the hope that one might be real and will help him, but rather in the belief that they are all real and will help him.
Pi: Jesus, Mary, Mohammad and Vishnu!
- The Long Ships: Orm and his compatriots have a rather lackadaisical view of theology. When caught in a storm on their way home from Andalusia, they immediately start arguing about which god they should sacrifice to, Allah (they have been serving in the Caliph's army and nominally Muslim for seven years), or Ägir, the Norse god of the sea. They eventually settle on both, and throw in a little something for Saint James, whose name is on the big bell keeping the ship steady, for good measure.
- Mistress of the Art of Death: Adelia is an atheist like her foster father but, when she's in a dire situation or particularly angry or worried, she'll call out to every version of God she knows for aid.
- Rain of the Ghosts: Isaac Naborías apparently likes to "cover all his bases" in regards to religion; in the wake of his almost being killed by the Hupia, he spends some time praying at both the local church and synagogue.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Characters will often swear or pray to "the Old Gods and the New", splitting their faith between the animistic beliefs of the First Men in Westeros and the Faith Of The Seven which arrived with the Andals.
- Inverted by The Dreaded pirate Euron Greyjoy as a Blasphemous Boast:
Euron Greyjoy: I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I serve ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray. - Spy School: Resident Dirty Coward Murray Hill pulls one of these when he’s in danger of dying from a missile strike in Spy School Goes South, praying to any god he could come up with, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, and Zoroastrianism.
Live-Action TV
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When Xander is suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia and is hiding from vampires, he starts saying the prayers of every religion he can think of — because he can't remember which one he actually follows.
- Criminal Minds: Not prayer exactly, but when Garcia receives her remote back from Mateo Cruz in the episode "Angels," she declares "Thank you, Jesus, Buddha, and Allah! I like to cover my bases."
- Glee: Played for laughs in an episode where Puck gets trapped in a port-a-potty for nearly 24 hours. Despite being Jewish, he begs for help from Buddha, Allah, and Satan, and isn't saved until Lauren Zizes finds him.
Puck: Are you an angel?
Lauren: Screw you. - Kaamelott: Downplayed. King Arthur (who was sent away from Britain and raised by the Romans before becoming king) still prays to Mars, despite being a Christian. The Lady of the Lake calls him out on it, but he turns it right around by pointing out that neither the local gods she represents nor God have been much help either concerning this whole "quest for the Grail" thing. Among others, they've yet to give a clear definition of what that is (it might be a cup that held Jesus' blood or a burning stone) or where they're supposed to look.
- "Sanford & Son": In an episode where Fred and Lamont have to take a flight to St. Louis, Fred, who is scared to fly, brings the following religious accessories with him: a crucifix, a St. Christopher's medal, a Star of David, an Islamic crescent, a Buddha, and a mojo. As he explains, "It's flight insurance. Down here on the ground I'm a Baptist, but up there I ain't takin' no chances."
- Superstore: In In the Big Storm Episode, "Tornado", Glenn, a Christian, prays in the tornado. When that doesn't work, he tries many other gods and is quite surprised and confused when the storm stops after praying to Allah.
- True Blood: In the minisode "Jason" has the title character (who is not the most astute in religious matters) begging for help from God, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Allah, "Confusion" note , Buddha, Scientology, aliens, and "that lion from Narnia."
Music
- Audioslave: In Like a Stone, a song about the narrator coming to terms with their own mortality, a lyric goes "And on my deathbed, I will pray to the gods and the angels like a pagan, to anyone who will take me to heaven."
Tabletop Games
- Forgotten Realms: In How the Bridge Was Held
by Ed Greenwood, a lone warrior prays to random assortment of gods before trying to make one-woman stand to stop mercenary company from crossing a bridge and attacking the town it leads to. Luckily for her, one of those gods does hear her prayers, sending a nearest champion to aid her.
- Hunter: The Vigil: A weaponized variant appears with Task Force: VALKYRIE's Compound Rounds, which are bullets that include trace elements of everything known to be harmful to various supernatural threats. This includes cold iron, salt, gold, silver, wood slivers, holy water, communion wafer crumbs, and various plants and herbs. They do enhanced damage against pretty much every type of creature.
- Warhammer 40,000: The Death Guard fell to Nurgle this way: they were trapped in the Warp and were struck with a plague so horrifying that they eventually broke down and begged the aid of any divinity to spare them. Nurgle (who'd sent the plague in the first place) turned them into Plague Marines, inhumanly tough and pain-resistant abominations that are more cancer than flesh.
Theatre
- ROMEO in the Darkness Side Blue — when they realize that Issei has been cursed, Team Mom Eichi panics, asking where they should go for help — a shrine? A temple? A church? An astrologer? But it's alright, they just consult their local demon king.
Video Games
- Baldur's Gate III: A variant. The in-game book The Curse of the Vampyr has a cover inscribed with "every holy symbol you've ever seen and some you haven't." Incidentally, there's no proof that holy symbols work against vampires in this game note .
- Civilization: Beyond Earth: A technology research quote from the spiritual Kavitha Thakur is a devotional prayer that beseeches Seraphim, Cherubim, Devas, Yakshas, and Fravashi in service to the Lord Creator, implicitly blending this trope with Interfaith Smoothie.
- Conquests of Camelot: Camelot's chapel has separate altars dedicated to Jesus Christ and Mithras. You need to pray to both of them or the one you ignored will smite you.
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist: While the player must actively choose to have Sol prevent Dys' bomb from being planted, the game's narrative frames it as Sol stumbling onto the culprit at just the right time. Once the situation is resolved, Sol internally thanks all gods from all religions they can think of for having been in the right place at the right time.
- King of Dragon Pass: Certain crisis situations allow the clan to propitiate "appropriate" enemy gods not part of the Orlanthi pantheon. Specifically, Malia, goddess of Disease and a member of the Unholy Trio, and Daga, god of Drought. It has a chance of working, but it's generally a bad idea.
- Prison Architect: You can build a Chapel or "Multi-Faith Prayer Room" and hire an NPC to perform Spiritual Guidance services that can calm your inmates. Said NPC is randomly selected from a number of real-life religions and a new one is picked for every service that occurs. A random spiritual leader will also meet with any prisoners you execute.
Visual Novels
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: At first, the laid-back and ditzy Yasuhiro Hagakure refuses to believe that the Deadly Game he and his fellow students find themselves in is anything more than an elaborate practical joke — until a classmate is brutally murdered in front of him. At that point, the reality of the situation finally sinks in, and he claps his hands and shouts "I'm begging you! God, Buddha, Mother Earth, God of Space, King Neptune, come save me!" In the original Japanese version, Hagakure even prays to King Kai.
- Scarlet Hollow: On Wednesday, the player character is convinced to participate in a ghost hunt in Scarlet Hollow's old library. Local Crazy-Prepared cryptid hunter Stella comes equipped with various pieces of equipment to detect the ghost, cameras and sensors to record its presence, and holy symbols from every major religion to chase it off. Plus a ouija board, just in case.
Webcomics
Web Videos
- This is the origin of Santa Christ from The Nostalgia Critic. Desperately praying to anyone to save him from the Star Wars Holiday Special, the Critic shouts "Help me, Santa! Help me, Jesus Christ! Help me... Santa Christ! It works.
Western Animation
- Futurama: At the start of "The Farnsworth Parabox", one of Professor Farnsworth's experiments goes horribly wrong and, in agony, he starts begging various deities to help him. Calling in a favor from Satan seems to do the trick, since he survives the ordeal.
- The Simpsons:
- "Marge Simpson In: Screaming Yellow Honkers": Homer prays to Jesus, Allah, and Buddha while being chased by a rhino.
- "She Used to be My Girl": Lisa is trapped in the trunk of a car while her surroundings are slowly being engulfed by lava after a mountain erupted. Lisa prays to Buddha, Jesus, and SpongeBob SquarePants. At the end of the episode, Buddha questions if they should intervene. Spongebob tells her off and starts laughing, much to Jesus' disappointment.
- "Treehouse of Horror XVI": Played for Laughs in "Survival of the Fattest". As Mr. Burns is hunting down some of Springfield's men, he shoots and kills Apu, who, with his last words, says "You've got me but I shall be reincarnated." A few seconds later, Apu is reincarnated as a rabbit who says "Ha-ha, you can't kill a Hindu!", only to get his tail caught in a bear trap, leading him to cry out "Aah, help me, Jesus!"
- "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?": Downplayed. Todd Flanders, while having a crisis of faith, prays for Ned's life to Jesus and Buddha, just in case. Additionally, the aforementioned Ned Flanders confesses in one episode that he's "kept Kosher to be on the safe side."
- "Night of the Living Wage": When the first shift begins, after mishearing Marge's cries of "Cheeses!", the Old Jewish Man replies "Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Hashem, we need 'em all, chef!"
Real Life
- The doctor Haing S. Ngor (star of The Killing Fields) wrote in his autobiography of making a prayer to several deities during his time being tortured by the Khmer Rouge.
- The Viking King Rollo the Walker had earlier in his life converted to Christianity. Shortly before his death he donated 100.000 silver coins to The Church but he also had 100 prisoners sacrificed to Odin.