On Wednesday Night, July 19th, we will begin a study on prayer. A few years ago, I read an article in “Christianity Today” magazine with the title “God, M.D. – How Physicians and Scientists are Discovering the Healing Power of Prayer.” For many years, medicine had kept religion at a distance believing that science was the ultimate solution to all our problems. Many Doctors simply tolerated preachers in the hospital to placate the “backward” beliefs of their patients.

But now, after several studies in various hospitals, faith is considered to be an important part of healthcare. There are still critics. One Doctor said the whole field of study about prayer is “off it’s rocker” because prayer is “not 100% effective.” But another Doctor in the article said “no medical treatment is 100% effective… If a child comes in with leukemia… I know that 90% will go into remission within 4 weeks with vincristine and prednisone… I don’t withhold these drugs because of the 10% who won’t respond.” So, some in the medical community are OK with prayer, others are still skeptical.

Prayer is hard to understand. Studies haven’t proven that prayer to the Christian God is more or less effective than prayer to Allah, Buddha, or Ancestors. Why do some devout Christians pray and not recover while a person from some other religion prays and recovers? Why do we NOT get 100% of what we pray for?    What do you think?

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