I am not a scientist. I don’t play one on TV. I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I have to humbly disagree with a story that I found in the Dallas Morning News today. The headline reported that a “Study fails to show healing power of prayer.” I appreciate the efforts of the Templeton Foundation to quantify spiritual effect scientifically. I really do. Still, I suspect that many or even most would be unmoved if the results showed a profound and positive effect for prayer. I recall that Pharaoh refused to believe in the God of Israel even as he stood derriere deep in frogs.
Let’s examine the findings in the story and discuss. My comments are italicized.
Does praying for a sick person’s recovery do any good? In the largest scientific test of its kind, heart surgery patients showed no benefit when strangers prayed for their recovery. And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications. The researchers could only guess why.
Maybe they had seen some of the Christian television shows.
They also said they didn’t know why patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of complications than patients who only knew that such prayers were a possibility. Maybe they became anxious by the knowledge that they’d been selected for prayers, Bethea said: “Did the patients think, ‘I am so sick that they had to call in the prayer team?'”
Could be. Maybe it was like the old Western movies when the undertaker would tape measure a gunfighter before the sundown showdown. Not a real swagger booster.
The researchers said family and friends shouldn’t be discouraged from telling a patient about their plans to pray for a good recovery.
Thank you. I appreciate the blessing (?) of the research community to pray.
The research team tested the effect of having three Christian groups pray for particular patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. The volunteers prayed for “a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications” for specific patients – their identities known only by first name and first initial of the last name. The patients, meanwhile, were split into three groups of about 600 apiece: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possibility, and those who weren’t prayed for but were told it was a possibility. The researchers didn’t ask patients or their families and friends to alter any plans they had for prayer, saying such a step would have been unethical and impractical.
The study looked for any complications within 30 days of the surgery. Results showed no effect of prayer on complication-free recovery. But among patients who did receive prayers, 59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus 52 percent of those who were told it was just a possibility.
Paul Kurtz, professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, had a blunt response when asked why he thought the study found no effect of prayer.
“Because there is none,” he said. “That would be one answer.”
He added that while he tries to keep an open mind, he’s seen no good evidence for such an effect in past studies.
I would have to agree with the good professor that there will probably be no good scientific evidence for such an effect. I believe there will never be a “scientific” substantiation of the power of prayer to heal. That is because the reason for prayer is not telling God what to do and sitting back to wait for Him to jump through celestial hoops. I would, however, like to suggest that there is powerful anecdotal and experiential evidence of the power of prayer in our lives. Yesterday we received the news of Joni’s pathology reports concerning her breast cancer. Hearing the sentence “you have won the lottery” would not have compared to what we heard. “The margin around the tumor is clear and the lymph nodes are clean.” We still face chemotherapy and radiation but this was the best report we could have received. Was Joni’s good report a result of the power of prayer? I don’t know. Here is what I do know. When Joni was in surgery on Monday we knew that hundreds of people were praying for her. Some of you who read this blog were praying for a woman you don’t even know. We both felt the presence, peace, and comfort of God. We could feel the prayers of the body of Christ.
Throughout this trial of breast cancer we had experienced a deep confidence and peace that was not explainable. We were not in denial. We have seen all too well the effects of cancer recently in our circle. But we were at peace. I think we felt that peace because we prayed and really believed the following.
God is in control. He has a plan. We don’t know what that plan is. But whatever it is we believed that He will give us strength and grace for the journey ahead.
Then we told God our desires.
We desired that Joni would be completely healed. We desired that God would use our journey to help others. We desired that we not “Waste our Cancer” but that He would be glorified through us in the process.
And then we accepted our bottom line.
We are not in control. We have confidence in the One who is. And we prayed like Jesus did in the garden. Okay…it was a loose imitation but we prayed the same kind of prayer. We wish this cup could be removed but not our will but Yours God be done.
So here is my conclusion. You can not quantify such a complicated theological and spiritual process. If I tell some scientists that I felt the prayers of Christians they would think I was loony tunes. If I tell a researcher that I am praying not just for healing but for God’s will that doesn’t fit into a neat little study category. How can a scientific study divvy up people into groups? We don’t know the mind of God and His plan for any of the people in the study. It was a lovely idea but I don’t need a bunch of labcoats to verify what I felt on Monday. Sorry. Maybe I am loony tunes. But I have something that you can’t measure, dissect, or research.
The peace that passes all understanding.
God is good. And not just when He responds the way I desire. God is good…all the time.
servant1135
The following is another study printed in the Chicago Sun-Times on January 26, 1986.
Prayers do aid sick, study finds Author: Howard Wolinsky
Edition: FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL Section: SUNDAY NEWS Page: 30
Prayers for the sick don’t go unanswered, a scientific study has shown.
Research at San Francisco General Hospital revealed that victims of heart attack, heart failure and other cardiac problems who were remembered in prayers fared better than those who were not. Cardiologist Randy Byrd, formerly a University of California professor, found that 192 patients in the group that was prayed for had significantly fewer complications than the 201 patients in the "non-prayer" group. And fewer members of the prayed-for group died.
The researcher said he conducted the study as "a scientific evaluation of what God is doing. After much prayer, the idea of what to do came to me."
During the 10-month study, a computer assigned patients in a coronary intensive care unit either to a group that was the focus of prayers by home prayer groups or an unremembered group. Patients, doctors and nurses did not know which group patients were in. Byrd said this study design permitted him to directly measure the power of prayer. First names, diagnoses and prognoses of patients were given to Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian prayer groups scattered around the country. The members of the prayer groups individually petititioned God daily for the recovery of the patients throughout their hospital stays.
The researcher said the results were dramatic. He found that none of the prayed-for had to be placed on breathing devices, while 12 of those not prayed for needed respirators. The prayed-for group was five times less likely than the "unremembered" to develop infections requiring antibiotics and three times less likely to develop a lung condition that leads to heart failure. Fewer patients who were prayed for died, but the trend was not statistically significant, noted Byrd, whose findings have been published in the proceedings of the American Heart Association.
Dr. William Nolen, author of a book debunking faith healing, said he was impressed with Byrd’s study. "It sounds like this study will stand up to scrutiny," said the Litchfield, Minn., surgeon. Nolen, a Roman Catholic, said he doesn’t pray for his patients, but that based on this study that maybe he should. "If this is a valid study, for God’s sake, maybe we doctors ought to be writing on our order sheets, `Pray three times a day.’ If it works, it works," he said.
The Rev. Lee Joesten, head of in-patient pastoral care at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, said Byrd’s study "helps validate the benefits from prayer, but it could be misinterpreted." Joseten said that some people praying for the sick may become disheartened if their prayers go unanswered. "Prayer may not be a cause-and-effect sort of thing," said the pastor. "There is a bigger picture we may not know anything about."
Copyright 1986, 1996 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
There are some interesting differences in the way they were carried out.
RevWLJ
When scientific research supports a religious belief, we preachers rejoice and quickly use it in our next sermon to say, "See, I told you so!" When science disproves (or at least does not support) a religious belief, we console ourselves with, "Well, beliefs can’t be quantified, but we know it’s true and that’s all that really matters." Can we have it both ways?
shimauma
I’m not sure if I read it right, but it seemed to me the study did not measure another factor, and that was the people that they were using in the study, the patients as well as the prayerful. Wouldn’t someone’s faith depend on whether they would get well or not, or the belief and conviction of the person praying? How could the scientists in this study measure that?
Andrea
Man cannot scientifically prove God anymore than they can prove where the universe ends.
But the foolish nature of man still persists to do so.
Maddox
I’m not surprised by this rationalization. Of course you have to protect your beliefs if some evidence flies in the face of them; it’s human nature. But doesn’t saying that God is above this study make him a bit "irrelevant?" Maybe the quality of care that a patient receives is what actually makes the difference between survival and death, nothing more, nothing less. But no, we’d rather cling to our superstitions. So I respectfully disagree with you. The more logical answer would be that God cannot be quantified and does not like to be tested; therefore he abstained from intervening in this little study (this was the explanation I expected). The bottom line is that if believing something strongly enough makes it true, then anything can be absolutely true. Any challenge to it can be explained away by another belief. Obviously this doesn’t always work in the real world, but it doesn’t hurt to believe that good and bad things happen for a reason.
Sue Bohlin
To presume that naturalistic science can measure the supernatural, is to make a category error. Something like asking, "How long does a chicken weigh?" Length is a measure of size; pounds are a measure of weight You can’t use a yardstick to weigh a chicken, and you can’t measure the efficacy of prayer in a scientific study.
Dadgum. . . once again, it didn’t work to put God in a box!
:::Typing rather calmly at the keyboard while jumping up and down inside over your wonderful news of the "all clear" pathology report:::::
Love love,
Sue
Tami
I’m praising God this morning after reading the update on your wife.
As far as the study goes, I think Proverbs 14:33 says it all…
"Lady Wisdom is at home in an understanding heart–
fools never even get to say hello" (MSG)
Rob
Your comments were right on.
God’s blessings to you.
Rob
Elven Lindblad
In the words (well, actually the word) of legendary basketball announcer Marv Albert: YYYYYYYEESSSSSSSSS !!!!! Carole and I along with our Bible study group have been praying for you and Joni throughout this time and we also rejoice in how this will become a marvelous new opportunity for ministry. Just like the accident involving my right arm four years ago and the fact that it’s changed my earthly life forever, God used that to revel Himself in mighty ways which have changed our lives and, praise the Lord, has been used to impact others. Keep up the good work and we’ll continue lifting you up in our prayers.
PS: Sorry, but I’ve had to quit reading your postings at work. I’m in trouble with our computer geeks for needing a new keyboard so often. Seems that coffee, diet pop, water or something else gets down in the keys and it’s always happened after reading any of your humorous bits.
Patricia
I agree with you, Dave. Sometimes the studies can be warped in a way to show favor to atheists, or sometimes God has a different plan for them. Praying to God doesn’t always mean you get what you want or that you won’t suffer. Paul had a thorn in his flesh that wouldn’t go away even WITH prayer, but what he did get was a strong and loving heart bold for Christ which is infinitely more valuable than taking away his pain. I am not discounting the effect of Paul’s pain—or anyone else’s for that matter, I am just saying that God is not a genie in a bottle. He is there to do what is ultimately spiritually best for us, and if that includes having pain in your life, God thinks, "So be it. " It’ s better than having no pain and no God.
Tom Townsend
Excellent. I am a logical fan of science, but science has its boundary, and God knows where that is…
Mark Marsden
I suspect the survey "proved" the assumption it started out with.
Todd White
That’s right. Prayer first of all has to be prayed with what in Hebrew is called kavanah, the intent of the heart. In isn’t a vain repetition of some written prayer for some name to whom one has no connection whatsoever. My mother had COPD from years of smoking and also asthma, for which my sisters and all our families prayed for years. The doctors at diagnosis said she had 6 months to a year. We prayed without ceasing and she lived on for 10 years. Twice she slipped into a coma on life support, and recovered (once only because of the prayers of her grandchildren; we kids and my dad were making funeral arrangements). Midway through she was diagnosed with lung cancer tumors which were multiplying in her lungs. Several MRI’s showed the growth in size and number of these tumors. Following a powerful encounter with the Lord at a Resurrection Day service in 1997, she went in to have surgery on the biggest of the tumors. Hallellujah, the pre-op MRI showed now tumors,…none. My mother passed away a couple of years ago. God did not heal her from the consequences of smoking, but he did prolong her days, and allow her to see the births of most of her grandchildren.
What a stupid study! The wife of one of my pastors has a brother in another state with heart problems. He was to have surgery, but the docs did not have much hope. The people in my congregation do not know, have never met this person, but we are connected through our pastor and his wife. People in our congregation prayed in the name of Jesus with kavanah, and he made it through. I suspect that this study was implemented with the intent to fail, a pseudo-scientific proof to atheists to confirm their own lack of faith. Good blog, Todd
Doug
Excellent article! Right to the point.
How many think of prayer as ordering from God (want fries with that?), instead of aligning ourselves with God, whatever His will is.
Thanks,
Doug