The Short Version
No available evidence supports the attribution of this specific theological assertion to John Lyden. While Lyden's scholarship discusses myth, ideology, and hegemony in relation to film and religion, none of the academic sources contain a statement that prayers to a separate, intervening God "fail" because that God is an idol projecting "class security." The claim appears to be constructed by inference from Lyden's broader framework and may involve confusion with punk musician John Lydon.