If you ask the elderly, retired dentist if his cancer went away because of prayer, he'll give a resounding "yes." The long-time Seventh-day Adventist, who prefers to remain unnamed, will then give intricate details of how his was a rare cancer form and ho
If you ask the elderly, retired dentist if his cancer went away because of prayer, he’ll give a resounding “yes.” The long-time Seventh-day Adventist, who prefers to remain unnamed, will then give intricate details of how his was a rare cancer form and how he was given little chance of survival. Yet, some 15 years later, he’s still here.
Healing prayer is a topic of controversy, one that is receiving a lot of media attention lately. The question is: do you believe it? Does prayer help patients?
If you’re one to believe it does, you’ll be pleased to know there is evidence showing that prayer helps.
But, if you believe it doesn’t, you may be pleased to know that studies have shown no conclusive evidence that it, in fact, does.
Conflicting results? Yes. One major study of Christian intercessory prayer for cardiac patients shows no significant effect for reducing their problems. Worse news for proponents of prayer is that those who knew they were receiving prayer had a slightly higher rate of complications.
Religion News Service reported Dr. Charles F. Bethea, a principal investigator from Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as saying that it’s possible that patients’ knowledge that they were being prayed for “might have induced a form of performance anxiety or made them feel doubtful about their outcome.” The study, published April 4 in the American Heart Journal, analyzed patients from 1998 to 2000.
Other evidence, however, suggests that so-called religious people are, overall, healthier than average and have more positive results from praying when they are sick. A new study finds that people who attend religious services can see up to three years added to their life, just like participating in regular physical exercise or therapeutic regimens adds years. Findings of the study are in the March-April issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
But the most controversial topic is that of intercessory prayer: praying on the behalf of others. Some also say there’s no way to scientifically test God, so it’s a moot point to even try.
With all the controversy and varying perspectives, what should the Christian do? “We keep right on praying!” says Dr. Peter Landless, associate director of Health Ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist world church.
“We have many Biblical injunctions encouraging prayer for the sick. Jesus spent more time healing than preaching. He was not always in favor of providing people with signs in order that they might believe. He rewarded the faith of those who requested healing and believed; faith was and still is an intrinsic component of our relationship with God and also of acts and miracles of healing.”
Landless is cautious about interpreting the results of a randomized trial on prayer. “God’s will and involvement cannot be randomized nor coerced by randomization into a trial. Can we test God in such matters? The scientific method says ‘yes!’” But, he adds, “When it comes to studies that concern issues such as prayer, there are confounding variables which are difficult to unravel.”
There are disparities in the studies that the news reports will not necessarily reflect, Landless says.
Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, told Cable News Network (CNN) April 4 that during the death of his own son from progeria (rapid aging), his and his wife’s prayers for a miracle were not answered. However, prayers for their own strength and the strength of their son as he was dying was answered. Prayers are not always answered the way people want, he said.
“Studies [having] difficulty measuring effectiveness and the divergent results reflect design problems,” says Dr. Allan Handysides, director of Health Ministries for the world church. “Then again, how does God answer prayer? Not always the way we want Him to. So I think in some ways these studies will always be problematical. Evidence has to meet strict criteria to be counted as evidence.”
It may be harder to convince those who do not come from a religious background. After all, there’s no substitute for personal experience. “I have participated in and been witness to many miraculous answers to prayer and know of many more from the experience of others,” says Dr. Landless. “While fully aware that such experience is anecdotal, the incidents have not been occasional! Will I continue to pray for the sick? Absolutely. Will I encourage others to do the same? Absolutely. Why? Because of science? Only partly; mainly because of the instruction and example of the Bible and overwhelmingly positive personal experience for which I praise and thank God.”
Dr. Bethea added, “The role of awareness of prayer should be studied further.”