August 19, 2008
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The Power of Prayer
A recent survey showed that over half of adults believe that God could heal a patient that was declared terminal.
In fact, 20% of doctors also believed that God could intervene to save a patient that was dying. Here is the link: Link
Imagine you have a friend who doctors said was dying of cancer. The doctors said there was nothing left they could do and your friend would be dead in 3 months.
Do you think prayer could save your friend?
Comments (183)
No.
No.
But Ed Koch could!
If God wanted it to happen, it will. But He loves when we ask.
No
No, but my love for Andrew can overcome anything.
No
That friend needs to believe in God first, then maybe the pray from all of us get answer. If not, then it’s ok too.
somehow.. when there’s miracle? =]
I think it could be possible, but only if it was God’s plan. He only gives us what we ask Him for if He knows it will be the best thing for us. So He could save someone if He thought that person needed to be saved. Otherwise, He would take their life so they can spend a new life with Him.
i believe if it’s time to go, it’s time to go….
I’ve seen something similar happen through prayer, and I’ve seen it not happen.
Fact is, we’re all going to die sometime, because of the fall, but God can and does make miracles happen.
It could. It isn’t guaranteed though.
He could, but i would never count on it.
NO.
Prayer could definitely save anybody.
Nope.
No, but there’s no harm in trying if you want.
I believe so.
Prayer? No.
God? Yes.
God waiting to act until I pray? That’s up to Him.
A former teacher of mine declined chemo for leukemia, was declared terminal, and after two months of heavy prayer by him and his family, the cancer disappeared forever.
Coincidence?
YES. Unless God decides their time is up, prayer can save a life. I have a TRUE story that is awesome, however corny it sounds.
I know a man, whom I had the amazing pleasure of meeting, who was a police officer named Buddy Farris. He was hit by a car while he was standing against another car writing a ticket. He fell, then got up and lay in the backseat.
Everyone started screaming, “DON’T GET BLOOD IN THE CAR, MAN!!!!”
So he stumbles out in the road, fell unconcious. An 18-wheeler was headed straight for him, and the driver just threw his hands in the air and cried. He was going to hit him. He took his hands from his face and saw that he had missed the man. And he hadn’t touched the wheel.
Buddy Farris was pronounced dead after they got him into the ambulance.
He remembers pulling a sheet off of his blood stained face at the hospitol and asking where he was. His friend stared at him in atsonishment, tears running down his cheeks, and said, “Buddy, you’re supposed be dead.”
He was in and out of a coma for several days. His wife was told he’d never walk again.
He won several 8-k races over the next few years.
Running.
I don’t ask anyone to believe a word of that, but I have it all on tape, as well as his handshake. He’s the most amazing man I’ve met in my life.
Sorry to leave such a long comment.
If faith healing works, then God is one sadistic mother fucker.
Every year or so, here of a sad case where a child dies because the parent decides to shun conventional medicine in favor of faith prayer. A quick google search highlights a couple cases:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/120702031416210.xml&coll=7
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/19/faith.healer.deaths.ap/index.html
Our own immune system features cellular mechanisms that protects and guards against cancer. Sometimes, the human body gets super-lucky and is successful in fighting back the cancer. It is only dumb luck of the patient tries some faith healing on the side.
@WilltheNeely - co-sign
Yes, I think prayer can save someone who is dying but not everyone who is prayed for will live. We can only ask. God determines life and death.
@Dare2BDiferentt - Don’t apologize, Nick. I believe that testimonial.
And I believe God answers prayer.
Many times it’s just not the way we want it to be or just not the way we expected it to be.
I’m not one to be religious but I think miracles are possible
Oh yes.
No. I’m sorry, but I think prayers are bulls***. They didn’t help my mother, and if someone has recovered magically is probably the willpower to live, or karma. not prayers, not god.
@Dare2BDiferentt - Now that is one amazing story!
Anything is possible with God. If He decides to restore someone back to health, I believe He can do it. It’s His call.
@Dare2BDiferentt - Did you cut and paste that from somewhere?
I think if you truly believe that prayer can help then it very well might. At the very least it may help the believer cope with the fact that thier life will be coming to an end, and help prepare them for passing over. If YOU believe prayer will help you, then it can.
@Drakonskyr - No, daddy.
I’m of the inclination that anything is possible, particularly mind over matter. Who knows what is possible? So, in short: maybe.
quite possibly. but maybe not.
God only saves those who shout loudest during his sermons
YES
If faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, then I’m pretty sure God can heal a ‘terminally’ ill patient.
What about you? What do you believe?
It depends on God’s plans. If it’s the person’s time to die, then there’s nothing anyone but God can do to save him.
No! Perhaps there is a 1% chance my friend would survive the illness, but if he “miraculously” survived I wouldn’t say anyone’s prayers were responsible! If my friend knew he was being prayed for, there might be a slight positive effect on his outcome, as some studies have shown. But neither the prayer itself, nor divine intervention, would have been the cause–there would have been sound medical reasons for whatever happened.
Excellent question, and as much as I’d love to say .. yes;.. realistically speaking .. no., I have worked in the Health Care field for many years; and I have taken care of numerous dying patients, and I now have a Hospice patient .. Their personal faith carries them through .. even if they aren’t overly religious .. Often, they give up on attempting to connect with God, and accept the inevitable. As part of the Hospice team, there is a Chaplain, Priest, and Rabbi on board to minister to patients and their families, who are coping, and coming to grips with the diagnosis.
There is power in faith; and Padre Pio, who is now declared a saint, performed miracles on the dying. In fact, the late John Paul II asked Padre Pio to pray for one of his parishoners in Poland, and she was cured. Padre Pio also predicred that Karol Wytla ( I know I spelled that incorrectly ) would become Pope one day.
It’s such an indivudual experience..
Its not just prayer. They have to be faith filled powerful prayers. It is NOT God’s will for anyone to die of cancer.
It “could” but it’s unlikely. It’s up to God
Could faith heal? Yes, but it doesn’t always. One problem, as huginn mentioned, is when people shun available medical treatment and rely on a miracle. Who’s to say that the treatment they dismiss is not the miracle God had ready for them?
@huginn - Bud, who in the world are you to say how anything works. You are a simple human just like me.I like you fella, but it galls me when someone like yourself can be so blatantly against ANYTHING even remotely considered from God. I do so hope your eyes are opened to the truth about God soon.
Yes, turning your back on medicine and saying God will heal me is TESTING God, not trusting God. So , yes, I don’t agree with carrying it that far, but I do believe God can and will heal someone completely simply to show mercy to some.Simply because you don’t understand the perfectness of a God who has no end or beginning and created everything from nothing, doesn’t mean you oh speck of dust can say what God will do.I don’t like lashing out at folks on here, but that comment you left was TOTALLY uncalled for. I’m ashamed of it. It’s sad you and others have that opinion of God!
I believe in the power of pray 100%. It saved my cousin, who had stage 3 of melanoma and it also saved my grandpa. My mom had a heart attack, so I went on facebook asking a bunch of my Christian friends to pray for her and later we found out her heart attack was only due to a small artery. What are the odds!? It saved her.
When you have a lot of people focusing on 1 thing, it definitely can happen. It also stems from the person (the terminally ill person, or even Michael Phelps). They have to have their mind set on obtaining that goal, whether it’s surviving cancer or winning the 8 golds. A lot of it has to do with positive thinking as well. Isn’t making a recovery 60% thinking positive? I read that somewhere and believe it.
I see a lot of the commenters don’t believe in it. It’s too bad.
Well it certainly can’t hurt him.
@Dare2BDiferentt - Reminds me of that book (90?) Minutes in Heaven. I don’t remember what time it was, haha.
No. But God can.
@mkenyon719 - I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds like a good book.
It’s funny reading the comments that say “yes” but that quickly say something like “it’s not guaranteed.” Of course it isn’t.
When you say “praying” I gues you probably mean praying to the Christian God. Doing that is JUST as effective as asking Zeus, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or any other deity invented by man. There is absolutely no reason to believe otherwise.
@Dare2BDiferentt - It was. Lol, I only read the first half of it because I was in Borders checking it out. Whoops. But yeah, the beginning describes how the man was in Heaven and then his pastor friend stayed with his corpse for that long and he finally came back. It was awesome. The way he described Heaven is unbelievable. It’s definitely a paradise.
@mkenyon719 - I’ll have to get that one. I hope they have it on Amazon. Thanks!
Maybe you could save their soul, but the fucker still dies.
i don’t consider myself to be the least bit religious but i do believe in power of prayer.
I think a prayer doesn’t necessarily heal physically, it’s more like a psychological healing.
I’d honestly love to say yes, but when I think about it, I don’t think God would save them. I think if he wanted to save them, he’d have let the chemo / radiotherapy work.
I can’t believe how dumb people are.
No… No, just no.
Could those that answer yes, just go ahead and not reproduce?
Yes. It happened for me.
Absolutely!!
God can heal them, yes. I don’t think prayer alone can.
No. I believe that if there is any god, then he is only an observer.
@EarthsAzureLight - I think that was uncalled for… but thanks for your input?
No but it can help.
Yes.
Prayer can be very effective, if unpredictable.
Sort of like shooting a gun that has no sight on it nor a scope. You just point it in the right direction and hope it works how you want it to.
@UnworthyofHisgrace - Bud, who in the world are you to say how anything works. You are a simple human just like me.I like you fella, but it galls me when someone like yourself can be so blatantly against ANYTHING even remotely considered from God.
Faith healing would seem to fail if the “faith-healed” child dies.
I do so hope your eyes are opened to the truth about God soon.
Thanks. =)
Yes, turning your back on medicine and saying God will heal me is TESTING God, not trusting God.
Spurning proven medicine for God involves a great investment in trust and faith. Putting a child’s health (and possibly life) on the line is more than a curious or experimental test.
Simply because you don’t understand the perfectness of a God who has no end or beginning and created everything from nothing, doesn’t mean you oh speck of dust can say what God will do.
However God is, I can judge the situation from my perspective and from my sense of the matter. The moral sense of the American Atheist isn’t very different from that of the American Christian.
I’m sure we both agree that the death of a child to failed faith healing is a tragedy.
…I don’t like lashing out at folks on here, but that comment you left was TOTALLY uncalled for.
I typed as I felt, and I think the texture of the comment highlights my feeling of the matter. I do, however, apologize for the coarse langauge.
I, for one, definitely believe in the power of prayer. That’s how Brownie got better!
@allyscandal - Ok, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the time at your friend’s up and coming funeral when you decide his chemo isn’t worth it and you’d rather pray.
Yes.
No.
I have a dad who was told he would be dead in a few weeks due to cancer. I prayed and he died the very next day.
@CrazyXBeautifulXDisaster - How do you know what God’s will is?
No.
Survey bullshit aside, there was a study conducted with patients who all underwent the same heart surgery. There was a control group who was not prayed for and didn’t know about the study at all, a group who was prayed for and knew about it, a group who was told they were prayed for and never were, and a group who was prayed for and didn’t know about it.
The groups who knew (or thought) they were being prayed for displayed better morale and healed faster.
The control group and the group who did not know they were prayed for did the same. They had an average recovery time and average morale.
There were an even number of complications, infections, and death in all groups.
So what does this say?
Knowing one is being prayed for is good for one’s morale and may raise one’s spirits, which is a well-known factor in recovery time. But the prayer itself, as demonstrated by the prayed but not knowing group, had little to no effect on the patient.
Yes, I did take this from a book. I won’t say which because it will probably discredit me.
Yep. Funny, I wonder how many answers would change if you changed the word “could” to “would.”
No, because I have tried it along with many other close ones and he still died from cancer. This prove prayer does not work!
Yes, or atleast it’s worth a try…
You can always turn to God no matter what, may not always save the person’s life but what do you have to lose?
And some don’t believe in asking saints to intercede for us, but Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes, hopeless cases, things almost despaired of ….. I’m been asking him to go to God on my behalf… Hopefully God will grant me that prayer request someday.
I do totally believe in praying, especially for the sick and hurt, everytime I see an ambulence go speeding by I even stop to say a lil prayer for the person because I believe it helps, even if only a lil bit.
Yes I do.
Yes God can heal. He made us and he can certainly opt to fix what he made when it isn’t working right.
Prayer is a conversation with Him about whatever is the topic the person or God chooses.
If a person is healed through prayer it is because the power God always has was unleased or poured into the situation. God tells us that He wants us to talk to Him and shows us that too.
On the other hand, prayer is not a way to get what we want when and how we want it. It is a way to talk to God and to get what He wants happening. Also as a result of sin, yes all living people and other creations of God live and die. So sometimes when we ask for healing God says no. It’s always ok to talk to Him about it.
I don’t know if prayers could safe him but I believe that miracles are possible and maybe some praying increases their chance of happening. Honestly, if I were in the situation that someone close to me survives although doctors have declared him dead, I certainly couldn’t care less what causes these miracles, I’d try anything.
@UnworthyofHisgrace -
While I have no problem with you personally believing God could heal people as a result of prayer, why lash against people who feel the opposite way? Maybe huggin should have chosen a better term for God other than “a sadistic mother fucker,” but other than that you are basically saying that his beliefs about God are uncalled for and should be kept to himself.
Let me demonstrate how a person with the opposite views of yourself could have said very similar things to what you said:
You said:
” it galls me when someone like yourself can
be so blatantly against ANYTHING even remotely considered from God. I
do so hope your eyes are opened to the truth about God soon.”
The opposite side could say: It galls me when someone like yourself can be so blatantly for ANYTHING that even remotely could be considered from God, without considering other possible causes or explanations for the situation. I do so hope your eyes are opened to the truth soon enough and stop relying on explaining things in spiritual terms every time you fully don’t understand a situation from a scientific perspective (which does not eliminate the possibility that there is one).
“Simply because you don’t understand the
perfectness of a God who has no end or beginning and created everything
from nothing, doesn’t mean you oh speck of dust can say what God will
do.”
Simply because you don’t understand how an event could have happened scientifically, does not automatically mean the event must have been affected by God in some way. The more science explains, the more limited God’s role seems to be becoming. In the past mental problems as well as plenty of other things were associated with demon possession. People didn’t understand how the body worked, so anything positive could be attributed to God’s blessing and everything negative could be attributed to the devil (or God’s disfavor). Same with the weather and natural disasters.
“that comment you left was TOTALLY uncalled for. I’m ashamed of it. It’s sad you and others have that opinion of God!”
That comment you left was TOTALLY uncalled for. People are entitled to their different beliefs. Just because he doesn’t believe in God and wishes to express his feelings on a post that ASKS THAT VERY QUESTION (within a specific topic) does not give you any sort of reason for saying what he said was uncalled for. How on earth is that uncalled for, when Dan asks people for the opinion and a person states it? (minus the obscenities, God could have be labeled in a more politically correct manner).
“It’s sad you and others have that opinion of God!”
Many atheists would repeat the same exact sentence back to you and other believers. But is that a productive dialogue to have at all? I at least don’t think it is.
As for answering the original question: I would be more inclined to state no.
@elgaberino -
Yep. Funny, I wonder how many answers would change if you changed the word “could” to “would.”
Me too. *hint hint Dan, for the next post*
It’s God’s will whether or not they live, but prayer can help in asking God what His will will be.
I do believe in miracles though.
Save them literally or maybe give him/her what they need to get through said situation? Prayer could help to bring the support one needs or the will to overcome extreme odds and also the love to ease ones pain.
@a_better_you - You are correct in saying that only if it is God’s plan. One of my favorite authors once said do not pray that God will heal someone under any circumstances, but only as God’s will. We have to believe God has a purpose in all things, that will work for good for them that love God. It could be that if the person were to live longer they would suffer calamities that they could not bear, and lose their faith in God.
Yes! I literally have a friend, Eric, that had leukemia as a child and now has been in remission for over 10 years. Some people would argue that it was the doctors’ treatment and not prayer that saved him. But let me tell you, he was prayed for, and very hard, by many loving people. I firmly believe that in that instance God chose to answer those prayers and kept him alive.
I don’t get this sort of idea at all. I myself think that prayer is a form of focusing intention and positive thought, and that that’s what ultimately aids in the healing. Attitude can be everything with terminal illness. It has biological effects that make sense, endorphins, etc…
I don’t understand how this god can have a plan, set someone up to die, presumably with some kind of lesson in mind, or some kind of schedule as to who gets judged when, and then, because a bunch of people essentially beg and plead, go back on it? Scrap the whole idea? Can the lesson? That seems bizarre to me. It also seems fickle and micromanagerial. I have a much easier time imagining a hands-off kind of god, one who set up systems (ie evolution) that resulted in life threatening disease doing its thing. Some get it, some don’t. Some live, some don’t. Eventually we all don’t. This hand picking the victims and then on a whim letting them live after all, for a little longer (usually the cancer gets you in the end anyway)… no, I can’t believe that.
It’s not like we even know for sure when someone’s going to go either. When the doc says 3 months, they’re giving a guess based on prior experience. It’s not some kind of crystal ball, “this is the day you die of cancer,” kind of thing. This prayer saving people idea requires that we presume to know when the time was up to begin with, and we don’t. We don’t know that prayer saved them at all.
There have been double blind studies (neither the patient nor the doctor knew which patients were being prayed for) that indicate prayer has made a difference in survival and healing rates of people undergoing surgery.
I guess it makes sense to pray with faith for anyone who is sick.
not really. whatever happens happens i guess.
probably not, but it also couldn’t hurt
yes, i do. my friend had a tumor in her and everybody started praying and just this week when she went back to the doctor it was totally gone. the doctor said he couldn’t explain it but, it just wasnt there anymore. that is God! and the power of prayer!
being that I am terminally ill with cancer and I’ve got apparently a little under 3 years left… my best friend believes: “Prayer can’t save my friend because its God’s will that they should move on to the next phase of life.. praying for them to stay on this Earth is just selfishness”
uh, no.
I think it’s harder to prover a negative than it is a positive. Prayer for healing is no exception to this rule. Here’s a simple example:
Let’s say I make the claim that there’s gold in Alaska. All I’d have to do is go to Alaska and dig up some to fufill my claim.
BUT
If I make the claim that there’s NO gold in Alaska then I must search all of Alaska and dig through every inch of it and then keep rechecking in case I missed some miniscule nugget- probably until the end of my life to absolutely substantiate my claim that no gold exists there.
If that’s the case for the empirical- how much more so is it the case for that which is beyond our fickle 5 senses to trace?
God has answered prayers that I’ve uttered to no one but Him. God has answered the prayers of nearly every Christian I know. I KNOW He answers prayers and I know He heals people when they ask Him. The Bible tells us to pray the prayer of faith over the sick and the dying and He will hear and answer their prayers.
However: God is never obligated to heal- He is God and none can stay His hand or say unto Him “What doest Thou?” And I will not pretend to know why God says no to some and yes to others- but the chances of God healing the unbeliever are actually greater than God healing the believer as the believer has nothing to fear in death whereas the unbeliever may be receiving a much needed second chance. I’m not saying this based on stats but on biblical precedent in the NT. The people Jesus brought back to life in his ministry did not know Jesus yet as Lord and Savior- they only knew Him as a great teacher and perhaps as “Messiah” in the sense of Judaic tradtion which taught He would be a political leader and save Israel from its enemies. But when it came to the apostles’ ministries they healed in order to lead people to faith- not to keep the faithful alive- Christians often died for their faith.
Everything in me thats reasonable says no, but when I have a love one on the death bed I know I will be taking every unreasonable stretch to make them better.
Maybe a prayer in supplement to a wonderful medical staff at a fully equipped hospital. But then, you have to wonder who you have to thank if the “miracle” happens.
Get real. Miracles don’t happen on their own. Man have to do whatever he can to create the opportunity for miracles to exist. So in the end, it all depends on us.
“God helps those who helps themselves.”
@PreciousOnyx - I like your answer, but after reading it, I realized you never answered the question.
Yes I do, if it is His will. Sometimes that is what He wants from us. Our show of Faith.. How many of us pray for a miracle, but don’t truly believe in it?
no
Could. With a lot of emphasis on it.
@justcounttothree - Get a new best friend.. I would do anything I could and I would pray with all my heart.. One thing is true though.. God isn’t going to listen if you are praying for something to benefit yourself.. I think that a friend with cancer is a little different..
I usually read the article fully before I comment on any of your blogs but today i just skimmed over a couple lines before I remembered some things my boyfriend has told me about America and religion so I thought it’s best that I comment from my own opinion.
Personally, I think that things happen for a reason. I also think that your dedication to God will help you after life rather than prior to that. I think that if you still turn to God when it seems like all hope is lost rather than blaming God then it will have more baring on your judgement in the after life.
I still pray for people who are sick and that everyone I love stays healthy because I think pray can do nothing but help but I don’t rely on it to fix unsolvable problems
Absolutely, yes.
If God is real and can heal people, then prayer certainly couldn’t hurt, and He obviously could heal them, it’s just a matter of would he? If He isn’t real, then how could prayer do squat? Anyone who follows God probably thinks prayer is worth a shot.
There’s no easy answer to that. On the one hand, no, prayer does not “save” a friend. God saves a friend. On the other hand, the Bible is full of examples where God’s actions were swayed by individual prayer. Take Moses, for example, who talked with God to keep Him from destroying the Israelites.
However, since God is all-knowing, and not bound by the constraints of time, you could say that God knew Moses would ask Him to spare the Israelites, and so His mind was never really “changed.”
I was going to comment .. but never mind.I’m just not in the mood right now.
Haha, no.
it has happened…so yes
of course! I’ve personally watched prayer save some people from terminal illness. Brain cancer to be one…. Prayer works, but we have to remember what James says…that we can’t pray with doubt because that makes us double minded. Sometimes i think that when we pray without faith, the prayer might not get answered. I’ve personally experienced the power of prayer. I was diagnoised with a brain tumor in 2005, and God has taken care of me the whole time. Miracle the way I wanted?…no, but there have been places in my treatment where even my doctors have been stumped!
MY prayer? No.
HIS prayer, maybe. This isn’t because there’s any higher power or anything. But if he is really, truly convinced that he will get better by praying, and he prays, then there’s a chance that his positive belief will heal him. This is the case in people of all faiths – and none – prayer is just one way to hold that belief.
Though, you did mention that this person has to be my friend. I try to avoid people who really, truly belief that some magical man in the sky will come to earth and make all their wishes come true.
Maybe yes, maybe no.
It’s not about what we want, it’s about what God wants.
i do not even pretend to understand the mind of God
God says to pray about everything, so there’s nothing that can’t be affected by prayer.
@JabezPrayer - Source?
I would not pray for the friend to be healed. I would just pray for God to do His will and to bring peace to all of us.
I think G-d does what He wants/needs to do. I think if we are very close with G-d (if we have a very close, personal relationship with Him), our prayers may influence Him. People have been known to change His mind. But I think most times, if someone prays for something and gets it, it’s a coincidence.
In my religion, terminal disease is often cured by sugary breakfast cereal.
what kind of stupid study is this? The population chosen certainly isn’t right as you’re assuming half of the worlds adult population believe in God.
But I believe in miracles. What you want to call them is up to you – whether you’re religious or not.
@EarthsAzureLight - I love how you’re observant. I actually stated in my comment that I didn’t believe god controlled these things, if there is such a being. I was simply pointing out to you that you crossed the line by about a mile. Of course, that is just my opinion, and there is always the freedom of speech (more or less). Pull the stick out of your ass.
Who knows? I definitely don’t…yet I like to believe in my share of small miracles.
If God answers the prayer, yes.
But any way you hash it you’ll die eventually.
The power of positive thinking could definitely help.
So yes, prayer would probably be a form of positive thinking.
I specifically like JJ_Ames’s take on it.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - ”
San Francisco cardiologist Randolph Byrd, for example, conducted an
experiment in which he asked born-again Christians to pray for 192
people hospitalized for heart problems, comparing them with 201 not
targeted for prayer. No one knew which group they were in. He reported
in 1988 that those who were prayed for needed fewer drugs and less help
breathing.
William S. Harris of St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas
City, Mo., and colleagues published similar results in 1999 from a
study involving nearly 1,000 heart patients, about half of whom were
prayed for without their knowledge.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032302177_pf.html
There are others I have read about, but I need to point out that if you go to this article it will basically refute the validity of the two studies I quoted. I only remember I have read some articles on the subject, which I am unable to find now, although they may have been about the studies mentioned above, which unfortunately some now say may not be valid.
So, if you want to continue to disbelieve in prayer, I have not really given you convincing evidence, have I? I have experienced what I believe was answered prayer in my life, and although it is not a scientific study I do offer you the testimony of my experience. I know from experience that God answers prayer, though not always the way we expect.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - “I try to avoid people who really, truly belief that some magical man in the sky will come to earth and make all their wishes come true.”
Of you think that Christians believe that God will make all their wishes come true, or that they think of Him as some magical man in the sky, then we Christians have not given you a correct understanding of God or Christianity at all. I am so sorry.
I believe more in medicine than prayer, so no.
Nope. Plenty of people prayed for my mom daily. She still died at 44. And she wasn’t even considered terminal.
So, in other words, fuck that shit.
No.
I’m sure it may be a morale boost to a patient and keeping high spirits is important for overcoming some of the worst illnesses. But prayer itself has no verifiable metaphysical property that somehow manages to rid a person of their malady.
I would never pray for a friend no matter how sick they became, and I would never want anyone to pray for me.
I can promise you it doesn’t.
My ex/best friend passed away from Cancer 2 years ago in September.
There were hundreds (literally) of us that prayed every day for that boy, and yet for some reason it was still just his time to go.
I know that God intentionally didn’t answer the prayers, or that Derrick didn’t deserve to live, it was just meant to be, and someday I will learn the reason why.
@JabezPrayer - Oh shut up with your “I’m so sorry.”
Technically prayer is a form of magic. Sympathetic magic. It originated in the most ancient of religions as a manifest will to impose law on nature and to assume control over those things which are completely out of your control. Feeling like you can make it rain when you need it to, or that there’s a deity that you can beseech with praise and worship to get it to do favors for you — that is the magical origin of prayer. It first started with things like ancestor worship and animism, where people would pray to the spirits of animals, or their ancestors, for help with things like the weather, hunting, or health. It perpetuated itself through ritual until the advent of the Christian god –
–and lo and behold, there are still people today who think they can effect reality by telepathically communicating with some primal ancestor.
Do any of you superstitious motherfuckers think god heals amputees? “He could if he wanted to” my ass. Apparently he has a grudge against people who lose their limbs making sacrifices for others. Or maybe, just maybe, god doesn’t exist, prays don’t get answered because he doesn’t exist, and human beings don’t spontaneously regenerate limbs, meaning you never have the window to say “god did it.”
@JabezPrayer - Hm, thanks for your thoughts and your kindness. You’re right that I’m unconvinced, but then, it’s impossible to prove that prayer NEVER works, you know?
And I was more poking fun at Christians than anything else. But I have met people who actually believe exactly what I said, no joke.
@Yohsiph - But God gave us the technology for prosthetics, and runners can run much faster without real legs! Amputation is a blessing.
ugh, no.
i know i just read the statistic you gave but i am still surprised by how many people have said, “YES!!”
and i don’t buy this, prayer as really being focused energy and positivity towards someone either. if i didn’t pray for my friend and all her non believing friends didn’t pray for her but believed she was going to make it, it wouldn’t make any difference.
it didn’t. she really thought she was going to get better too, but it didn’t matter.
i’ve also been in the opposite situation, everyone praying while the believer with cancer also prayed. same results.
i think what happens is, doctors make mistakes all the time. they tell you it’s not so bad, when it’s at stage 4 because they couldn’t detect anything, or they tell you it’s stage 4 when it’s not so bad. if you pray, whether god says yes or no to the life of someone who is terminally ill, it’s just a coincidence.
…i wonder how many doctors get pissed off when people think it was god that saved their loved one and not their medical expertise.
My dog was miraculously healed after being ran over by a car before I took him to the vet.
My aunt was healed from cancer.
My grandpa was healed from congestive heart failure.
My buddy Carl didnt have to have knee surgery because God healed it.
Yes. I know God can heal. No doubt.
I have seen it…more than once!
@Yohsiph - I have seen it! With the eyes in my head.
I’ve seen prayer do lots of amazing things.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - Hey There…God Healed Anna…my dd & I have seen other things too.. you know me well enough to know I don’t lie or exaggerate….
@Made2sing4Jesus - Yes, I know you wouldn’t intentionally lie, but I worry that you may have been misled or are misinterpreting random chance. I’m sorry, but until you can prove something to me with hard facts, I’m not going to be able to understand.
Did u ever c that video I sent link 2? I know what I know the same way u do..I am not misled.
One would certainly hope so.
Of course prayer can help…but don’t ever deny conventional medical practices in favor of prayer…sometimes God’s answer to the prayers is the right doctor with the right answer…
People who say there is not proof of God, not only aren’t looking, but are ignoring the obvious.
it could, but it won’t necessarily.
it doest hurt to try…
No. Theoretically God knows everything that has happened and will happen. He knows your going to pray before you do, and therefor has already made his decision. If there is an omniscient being somewhere up there, his mind won’t be swayed by the likes of us.
no, I don’t believe that prayer works that way. I don’t believe that God works that way. Would seem kinda vindictive to be like, “Well, I’m gonna let you die… unless you ASK for it. Be sure to say ‘please’!!”
But I probably would still pray otherwise. I think prayer really is more for the individual praying that anything else. It’s a comfort.
I think so. My church the other day asked everyone who had been healed of cancer to come and stand at the front of the church. I would guess there were between 30 and 50. I personally know someone who was and I once prayed for a woman with stage 4 cancer who came back a year or 2 later and said that she wasn’t supposed to be alive but that she was. That was 3 years ago and I still see her around. I also just went to the memorial service of a friend’s mother who believed earnestly that God would heal her and while it was a miracle she lived as long as she did (by her tests she should have long been dead), she still did die. I am around a lot of people who passionately pursue healing through the power of God (specifically Jesus) and I do as well, though maybe not as much as some others. (There are other aspects of the supernatural that fascinate me more, like the arts…) My pastor has seen huge numbers of people healed. He is invited all over the world to speak and minister and he says you can never let what God hasn’t done keep you from appreciating what he has, to fight against being offended at God. I find that the more you focus on something, the larger it grows. When you focus on the goodness and power of God, it grows in your life. This link might be helpful. And yes, this is the church I go to.
@Yohsiph - I am sure that there has been someone somewhere who has been healed of an amputation. And if it hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t mean it can’t. In the same way we are constantly learning and applying new information in science, we are also experiencing new things in the area of faith and the supernatural. As our belief grows, it transforms the possibilities.
I’d pray whether it saved him/her or not.
God can do anything.
I do believe in God but I don’t think he intervenes. I really don’t. If he did, why do bad things happen to good people?
I just had a baby, Abby, very beautiful on June 3 of this year. My father in law died on May 1. He was told two and a half months ago he wouldn’t live to see 3 months.
Even if he couldn’t be saved, the power of prayer didn’t let him live long enough to see his grandchild. he died of cancer.
His brother is currently dying of cancer as well. My husbands Aunt lost her husband a year ago in a gruesome death to cancer and only a month ago she lost her daughter who commited suicide.
If you believe prayer can save everyone, great for you. Believe what you want. I just hope you never have to test your theories.
I believe that when we concentrate hard enough, or desire something enough, our body awakens its natural ability and miracles happens. Remember what they say about humans being able to fly/lift themselves off the ground in the past?
I have heard of these things happening before. I am of devout Catholic Faith and I believe with God, anything is possible!
The power comes from G-d being within us all.
I dunno if it could save my friend, but I would pray.
everyday, in every way
I believe that God determines the number of days we live on this earth. He also asks us to communicate with Him and to make our requests known to Him. I believe that I have a responsibility to pray and it is up to God to answer in the way He chooses. Do I believe in miracles that can raise a person from the dead? Yes.
God yes. Prayer in-and-of itself no.
i think anything can happen
i guess it all depends on when ppl r supposed to leave us
my boyfriend was supposed to die when he was a baby because he had cancer and it was connected to the back of his heart
but i think enough ppl prayed for him
I don’t know whether prayer could save someone from fulfilling a doctor’s death sentence, but I do believe a patient can defy such a declaration. Doctors are definitely not God. People should not put that much faith in doctors, as though they are.
yes, but i think God will heal who he will heal and prayer is really only for us.
this is coming from a christian gone stray
Life is nothing more than a continuous testing of our faith and character by God. So is death. Prayers are heard and they DO work… if it fits within the context of God’s overall plan. What’s important, however, is that faith itself. And faith, which is an expression of our love for our Creator, is unselfish in its basis.
Asking God’s mercy for another is fine. God has the power to answer and heal… and does so far more often and often in subtle ways than any of us realize. But the most important blessings of all must always be born in mind: His love, His justice and His promise of salvation and a place beyond this world where all hurts are healed and all are reunited in His Grace.
Life is a fleeting moment of endless Eternity. That fact must be always born in mind.
I lost both of my parent to cancer, my Mother this April. When diagnosed in March 2003, she was told there was an 8% chance she would survive 1 year – she made it 5. In December she had a major set-back and at one point looked me straight in the eye and said you know – I am tired….I think I have done pretty well proving them wrong, but I am tired.
IMO – I guess that I am saying I would not try and pray for a divine healing as there is a great chance of disappointment….God does have a plan and it is not up to us to negotiate our own terms. I did and would again pray for peace and dignity for the ill and peace and understanding for the family.
I think it’s possible, I’ve heard miraculous stories like this my whole life.
but if it really is time to go, then it’s time to go.
@charlottegeely - You aren’t sure sure of shit — because it hasn’t happened.
I doubt it. But anything’s possible.
No.
I absolutely do.
no.
yes, but it’s not up to me who lives and who dies. i agree with stefanie_x3. miracles do happen.
Prayer did.
@Yohsiph - Well, you seem to have it all figured out. I don’t agree with you, though.
@Vivi_Kitty - Yeah kitty! Go God!
Yes and no.
The point is to get you to pray.
The reward is your relationship with God.
God is sovreign.
Think about what that means; that means that EVERYTHING that happens occurs through preordination. If not, then God is not sovereign.
When things happen that are unbelievable and personally significant, these things are often called “miracles.” Miracles are believed to be divine actions based on divine sovreignty. But I would posit a far more specific definition:
A “miracle” is a physically explicable, yet uncoincidental occurence.
I challenge you to present a single miracle that has been definitively recorded that has NO POSSIBLE physical explanation.
In other words, everything obeys physical laws — no exceptions. But that’s not the same as saying that everything is coincidental — just the opposite; remember, if God is sovereign, then there can be NO coincidences whatsoever, so that, in effect, by my definition, miracles are the rule, not the exception — we are living miraculously; not coincidentally.
What this implies is a kind of pantheism. If everything that happens happens by the will of God and is miraculous in nature, then what that means is that everything is simply God Himself — God is equivelent to the universe. That is to say, the universe is a cohesive whole with an identity and intelligence. That intelligent identity is God.
So if you pray, it is because God wants you to pray. God may have prearranged the situation to answer your prayer, or not. But what has happened is predetermined, including your choice to pray.
Yes, He can..and I have seen it happen!
no. and if god had a plan for everyone y would there b guardrails on cliffs? y would there b safety percautions on anything? if u have faith that god will keep u safe thru his so called “plan” y would take percautions? i don’t believe god can save any1 from anything.
yes, if it’s God’s will. =)
If it is God’s Will, yes.
Yes. I’ve seen people who have been given no hope from modern medicine, turn to prayer and alternative medicine and they have survived and thrived. A lot is mind over matter, but who cares if positive thinking helps someone who fights cancer so be it. Nova or some show did a show on the effects of Yoga and herbal medication and its effectiveness on terminal cancer patients and attitude, love for life, God, and support from friends does work miracles.
A prayer will give him hope. And in a terminal situation, that’s all a person really needs.
So yeah, a prayer will save him.
My mom had major surgery the day after mother’s day last year in ’07. She had 26 centimeter cancerous tumor growing in her uterus. She was on life support for 3 days, had 5 units of blood..and 2 days later and about 30 pounds lighter, left the hospital and came home. It’s been over a year now that we were told she wouldnt make it through the night last year. My mom at present has had many rounds of chemo..and is awaiting a next surgery. If you were to look at her, you wouldnt even know she has cancer other than her bald head. Every day for me is an answer to prayer that I get to spend time with my mom. Also, I had cancer a year before my mom was diagnosed. Ironic..but I’ve been honored to help her get through this hard time. I believe that God has His reasons for why life happens how it does. Sorry for the long comment..yes, I believe that prayer can change things..I ask for His will every day..whether it is to die or live. Peace..
S8ergrl:
Regarding your comment to TheoCafe:
“no. and if god had a plan for everyone y would there b guardrails on cliffs? y would there b safety percautions on anything? if u have faith that god will keep u safe thru his so called “plan” y would take percautions? i don’t believe god can save any1 from anything.”
Your absolutely heinous spelling shortcuts aside, I thought this was a very well thought out response (or retort (nevertheless it was insightful)).
You’re absolutely right in that people who believe in God as an individual actor who saves people from physical misfortune by breaking the laws of physics are deeply misled.
But I challenge you to consider this:
The idea that God is not merely an actor, but rather is the entire situation; that is to say that God is simply the grand total of everything.
In such a case, why wouldn’t the world be perfect? If God is perfect and God is everything, then shouldn’t everything be perfect?
Well, suppose further that God is seeking something. Suppose God is seeking self-development. That’s not so hard to believe. I mean, just look at evolution — reality defies probability by becoming increasingly sophisticated. So much so, that many people refuse to accept that life occured through a series of phsical events. This definitely points to what many Christians call “inteligent design,” and what I would call “intelligent self-development.”
If this is the case, then God would take the best in Himself and strive to make it better, wouldn’t He? Well, if God is reality itself, then it follows that we are part of God, since we are part of reality. I would even go so far as to say that we are the best of reality — we are reality’s most sophisticated state — the most stunning example of living potential. So then, God is seeking to develop US, since WE are the best of HIM.
That being the case, how does self-development occur? As any evolutionist, drill instructor, Nietszchian, or parent will tell you, self-development occurs through overcoming hardship.
This explains why the world isn’t “perfect.”
God seeks to develop Himself. There is no progress in a perfect world. Only stagnation.
Thank God that you live in a world that needs handrails.
I beleive anything can happen I am not religious but If i had a friend that needed my prayers I’d be praying to the higher power
I definitely believe that God can heal people, in fact I have seen it before. There are many people I have met that God has healed of cancer, and I mean serious cases of cancer, so I definitely believe that God is able to heal, even of cancer.