On the weekend, Main Man and I were discussing an experiment he had read about which, after years of study, determined that prayer was useless.
Evidently, in this study, there were three groups of ill people studied - a control group who were not prayed for, a group who were prayed for but not informed about it, and a group who were prayed for and were informed of it.
Main Man said that the group prayed for and informed actually worsened in health. They think it may have been because they felt further anxiety about their conditions because they didn't realize they were sick enough to need prayer.
I think the experiment studied the wrong thing.
I pray. When someone I love is ill, I pray. When I'm worried about something, I pray. I'm not sure it will help them, but I do know that it helps me.
It helps me. It lets me feel that I am doing something when there is very little I can do.
And I have to ask - what kind of sicko conducts an experiment basically designed to prove that prayer is ineffective? What kind of person does it take to stamp out the one hope that some people have at such an intensely difficult time in their lives?
And how dare they take away that one thing I thought I could do to help!
7 comments:
Actaully, prayer has been proven over and over again to work. There will always be one nay-sayer who is out to prove that God does not exist.
Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep believing.
I am,seriously, not trying to start a fight about this, but I am interested in others feedback on my take on the study.
First, I agree with LibraryMama that the study looked at the wrong thing. Mature prayer, like mediation, seeks spiritual strength for the person praying rather than trying to change the outcome of events. No one can ever say that this kind of prayer has no value.
As for the researchers being "sickos", I'm sure the experiment made sense within their cold, dispassionate scientific perspective. Doctors, as we all know, think they are gods, so it probably pisses them off when people "blaspheme" by talking to God instead of listening to them.
Nonetheless, the study was pretty exhaustive - 1,800 subjects over 10 years - but it proves only what mature theology already tells us: that God does not intercede in events.
The theological logic of this fact is pretty straightforward:
- God is all-knowing and all-powerful, so nothing has power over him
- Therefore God exists beyond time and knows every detail about the past present and future
- Therefore all events are pre-ordained, since if God had wanted events to be different he would have changed them already at the time of creation
- Therefore there is no point in praying for God to intercede in events, since he has already decided how the universe is going to turn out. The only choice we can make is to put ourselves in harmony or in opposition to God's will.
- Putting oneself in opposition to God's will is stupid, because he is all powerful
Again, I'm looking for ideas and debate here. I'm not trying to undercut anyone's spirituality. But what's everyone's impression of this logic?
There is a God.
He can't interfere with people's free agency. If he interferes with one person's life he has to interfere with anothers. It is just not fair.
He can influence us in different ways...but that's about it.
He couldn't stop 9/11 because of free agency.
I beleive in God because the news matches Biblical prophecy. Isaiah and John both warned that the world would gather against Israel, but that God would protect her. John told of the Euphrates drying up around the time a country invaded Iraq. The Euphrates was dry in the 90's. John said this would prepare the way for the Middle East and that Israel would use its airpower (2nd strongest in the world) against Lebanon and all nations that gather against her.
Prayer is nice and good...but if you wanna really help someone out...go out there and do it yourself. God is sick and tired of people hiding behind him when they could be helping others themselves.
That's my two cents. More like 3.
All I am going to say at this point is-
AMEN! To what LM said, not you other folks:)
I need to think on this some more.
Hi LM,
Truly, the power of my Christian prayers has worked for me supernaturally many times.
I've often had difficult situations suddenly turn around...my intuition becomes sharper...my decision-making a little wiser.
Prayer does something good for me everytime.
I agree with LM, in that prayer has the most positive effect on the person who sincerely prays and meditates. There is scientific evidence to support that.
I also agree with Mentok and Hippo, God is not going to step in and change very many events because he has given us our free agency. There are instances recorded in scripture as well as personal journals where the Lord's hand is made manifest in people's lives. I don't know that I agree that everything that happens or will happen is predetermined, but I do think God knows his children so well that He knows how we will use our free agency.
I've heard people denounce the existence of God based on the bad things He allows to happen - "If there was really a God, He wouldn't have allowed my baby to die, or 9-11 to happen, or any number of other horrible things" - but those events testify to a loving God who allows man the agency of choice. If He did not, wouldn't He be more like Satan who tried to take away man's agency in the council before the world was made?
The responsibility for making this world better rests on our heads. And I think we can do that by relying on prayer, on listening with our hearts to the Lord's instructions during those prayers, and then getting up off our knees and being of service.
Your post is prompting good discussion.
Thanks so much for you insightful comments, everybody. I don't think I'll respond to each one individually this time, but every comment added a new perspective. Thanks again.
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