PRAYING FOR SICK PATIENTS

The Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP), conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Medical School, was a 10-year, $2.4 million clinical trial of the effects of prayer on 1,802 cardiac bypass patients at 6 hospitals. Patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery were broken into 3 groups. One group was prayed for by intercessors and a second group was not, although nobody in either group knew for sure whether they were being uplifted in prayer. A third group was prayed for after being told they definitely would receive prayer. Then researchers tracked the number of complications experienced by patients in each group. This study was what is called a prospective, randomized, double-blinded parallel group-controlled trial—a type of scientific study that is purported to be the gold standard of all scientific studies.

There was no difference in the rate of complications for patients who were prayed for and those who were not—absolutely ZERO! There was even a slightly greater number of patients who knew they were being prayed for who experienced complications.

   

This study is held up by those who believe that prayer has no effect as the definitive study showing that prayer does no good. We live in a scientific world, where many people put all their faith in science. Many people believe that science is the sole arbiter of truth. They believe that science is the very last word in determining truth.  They believe that science is the only way to know if something is true. The problem with that statement is that the statement cannot be proven true by science. 

You may recognize this problem because there is a very similar statement made by the believers in the New Age Movement. That movement states that “There is no such thing as absolute truth; and that is the absolute truth.” There is self-contradiction in both of these statements about science and about truth.

As a matter of fact, the STEP study contained a very significant defect.

Several other studies on the effects of intercessory prayer have been reported in the medical literature—most of them in the Southern Medical Journal. In one representative study, again, patients were divided into a group being prayed for and a group that did not receive prayer. To those who prayed for patients, born-again Christians, both Catholics and Protestants, were given the patient’s first name, condition, and diagnosis. They were instructed to pray to the Judeo-Christian God “for a rapid recovery and for prevention of complications and death, in addition to other areas of prayer they believed to be beneficial to patients.” The patients in the group who received prayer, had less congestive heart failure, fewer cardiac arrests, fewer episodes of pneumonia, and were less often intubated and ventilated; also, they needed less diuretic and antibiotic therapy.

Now, you may ask, “What was the difference between the 2 groups, the STEP group and the groups reported in the Southern Medical Journal?” The question one must ask about these 2 studies is this one: Is it important to know who was doing the praying, who they were praying to, and how they were praying?The prayers of the people in the Southern Medical Journal article were people who believed in a personal God who hears and answers prayers made on behalf of the sick.”

In the Harvard STEP study, the only Protestants recruited to participate in the study were all from the Silent Unity Church of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. This group claims to be Christian; but many Christian scholars wouldn’t give them that label. They trace themselves back to the New Thought movement of the late 19^th Century. This sect’s views on the divinity of Jesus, sin and salvation, the Trinity, the Bible, and just about every cornerstone of Christian doctrine would be unrecognizable to any main-stream Christian. Their theology includes a strange mixture of Hinduism, Spiritism, theosophy (the philosophical study of religion), Rosicrucianism (Rosicrucian teachings are a combination of occultism and other religious beliefs and practices, mostly concerning mysticism or Christian Gnosticism. The central feature of Rosicrucianism is the belief that its members possess secret wisdom that was handed down to them from ancient times.), and Christian Science blended with some species of Christianity. Biblical concepts for these people have been emptied of their historical meaning and refilled with ideas more suited to New Age mysticism or pantheism. Although there is some diversity among those affiliated with Unity, essentially, members of the Unity Church do not believe in miracles, do not believe in a personal God outside of us who intervenes in people’s lives, and do not believe it’s even appropriate to ask for supernatural help.  It is not surprising to me that their prayers did not result in healing of disease. They did not believe in the God to whom they were supposedly praying to!! I doubt that they were even praying at all consistently since they really did not believe that their prayers would accomplish anything.

It has been observed that the most effective intercessory prayer has been done by Pentecostals and charismatics who emphasize healing prayer. Effective intercessory prayer has been most effective when it is done in the presence of the sick person—not at a distance, where the sick person is not even known to the prayer. Effective intercessory prayer has been most effective when the prayer has been able to actually touch the sick person or even apply anointing oil to the patient.  

I lately have been rejuvenated in my praying by a remark made to me by a friend in a Bible study that Nancy and I lead. He had a daughter named Susan. Susan had an advanced form of brain cancer; and her recovery was thought to be impossible. So…I was praying for her relief from pain and suffering and for comfort for her family. My friend said to me after he heard me praying that way, “I am not praying for her that way—I am praying for her recovery.” That got me to thinking about how I was praying. I was not really praying for what I wanted. I was praying in doubt of God’s power. I don’t pray that way anymore. I pray for what I really want, and I believe I am going to realize God’s goodness in the end. Now, as it happens, Susan died. But…I am convinced that she was cured of her brain cancer—she is undoubtedly healed in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves don’t break in and steal.

All that being said, I still affirm that I strongly believe that God is powerful and that He is good. I believe that He always wants the best for His children. Yet, I also know that He never promises us a trouble-free life. He knows that we sometimes walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and when we do that, He does not promise us that He will deliver us from trouble, suffering, and even death. But…the thing He does promise us is that He will accompany us all the way through. When trouble comes to us, we should fear no evil because He is there with His rod and His staff to comfort us. Even in times of trouble, He will prepare for us a table of life even in the presence of our enemies.

I believe that God is so powerful that He can reach down at any time to deliver us from affliction. That being said, I am also convinced that He will often allow the aches and pains of our earthly lives to work their evil ways through our days on this earth. In the end, He will show His goodness and power to us, and He will take us home to live as His adopted children forever.

We live in a fallen world. We all know that—we know that we must contend with a lot of hard things, just because we are the sons of Adam. We suffer the effects of his fall from grace. That seems to be the price we have to pay for being on Earth and in our present circumstances.  I believe, nevertheless, that He wants us to communicate to Him the actual desires of our hearts. We must be honest with Him and tell Him what we really want of Him. We need to pray to Him with heartfelt prayers for things that even look impossible to us. We must know those things are not impossible to Him, while, at the same time, He may have other and better things in mind for us. The hard knocks in life that we may experience should not frighten us—God is certainly with us, He cares for us, and He will ultimately deliver good things to us.

From a practical point of view, I want you to know that there are times when we should avoid praying for complete healing for some diseases. This is not because I believe that God is incapable of healing those diseases, but I know that sometimes He does not do so for reasons of His own. I do not worry that such prayers might damage God’s reputation among the hearers of the prayers in case the patient does not recover. God can take care of His own reputation. But…I do not want to raise false hopes in close relatives who might feel bad if recovery does not occur. I pray those prayers for complete healing in private or with friends who understand my attitude toward intercessory prayer. A more constructive way to pray for one with a supposedly incurable disease is to remind him that better days are ahead for all faithful Christians—a life of health, strength, and communion with the Savior. Heaven is a place where there are no more tears, no more pain. Life there will be eternally satisfying to all of us who believe and trust that we will go there because Jesus, Himself, promised us that He is the Way. We will come to heaven by Him, alone!