Looking for a place to feel inspired and challenged? Like to share a smile or a laugh? Interested in becoming more familiar with Canadian writers who have a Christian worldview? We are writers who live in different parts of Canada, see life from a variety of perspectives, and write in a number of genres. We share the goal of wanting to entertain and inspire you to be all you can be with God's help.
Many churches regularly pray for those who are sick. At St. Simon’s NV, we often give thanks for answered prayer, particularly in the area of healing in body, mind or spirit. Healing prayer is mysterious in its effect. In recent years, there have been a number of studies on the effects of healing prayer. Dr. Candy Brown wrote a ground-breaking book entitled “Testing Prayer” which gave preliminary indications that there is a measurable impact in healing prayer. Her research involved the ethnographic approaches of participant-observation, written surveys and oral interviews, clinical measurements and statistical tests, and narrative analysis and archival research. Dr. Brown’s team of researchers used audiometers and vision charts to test hearing and vision before and after times of healing prayer. Many but not all participants in healing prayer showed significant improved function in the post-prayer diagnostic tests. Dr. Brown suggested that the empirically observable effect deserves more research and followup, involving larger-scale more-refined clinical trials of the effects of healing prayer.
Science cannot prove why healing prayer works, but it can measure its effects in helpful ways. The founder of Christianity, Jesus, was consistently involved in teaching, preaching and healing the sick. His early followers regularly participated in healing prayer. For over two thousand years, healing prayers have been offered up for those in need. It is encouraging that careful research is being done, indicating that healing prayer makes an empirical difference. My expectation over the next number of years is that many more scientific tests will be done, that will teach us a lot more about the empirical nature of healing prayer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Write Canada is more than a professional networking conference. It’s a safe place where beginning and intermediate writers can learn ...
-
It's an old proverb: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Sometimes elephants come crashing through our front door - uninvite... -
Dreams are baffling things. Like high quality china they have a strength that defies logic. Yet after years of bumps and bangs that sugges... -
I have been feasting of late on Marilyn Chandler McEntyre's Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies . She exhorts all of us -- and mo... -
Writers—especially those who aspire to write books—are currently being told that the publishing industry is undergoing a massive change. Th... -
This may be a bit outside of what we normally post here, but the problem as I see it is that people frequently come to The Word Guild after ... -
To what would we have turned in our low times had David had not written about his experiences? When he was down, David created songs ... -
It was a new church; everything shone with a cared-for appearance. Spotless rugs led to every door. The alter-covers showed intrica... -
Thanksgiving is not just a season, it's a lifestyle. It's not just a feast with opportunity to gather the family around the table—... -
By Rev Ed Hird While working out at a local weight room, I had the privilege of getting to know Betty Jean McHugh, the world’s fastest...
1 comment:
Thanks for this piece, Ed. Only yesterday I met a couple with whom I had a conversation in which they shared with me a story of the wife's healing, and the role prayer played in it. That occurred some years ago, and she is now senior and is very well. ~~+~~
Post a Comment