Prayer helps out if you have an illness that can't be seen externally, like cancer. God cures that all the time.
If you are an amputee, then you go to the doctor, cuz God doesn't like to help out those folks.
Does prayer have any effect?
by The Quiet One 56 Replies latest jw experiences
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caliber
The December 1998 issue ofMc Call’sMagazine raised the question: How does prayer heal? The article notes a study done at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, which studied 1,902 twins. They found that those who were committed to their spiritual lives tended to have less severe depression and a lower risk of addiction to cigarettes or alcohol. The healthful lifestyles of the spiritually rich and faithful clearly contribute to their well being, They tend not to smoke or drink or not do either excessively. Their marriages are more stable and their spiritual communities form a network that can catch and support people when they are ill.
Noted atheist Dan Barker, a spokesperson for the Freedom from Religion Foundation says the findings of the above research are no big surprise. Prayer and religious beliefs can have a placebo effect, just like a sugar pill. Barker, who was once a Christian Fundamentalist preacher before developing serious doubts about his religion, states that one of the strongest factors in recovery from an illness is a sense of connectedness with a community and people who care about you. Even if we mumble our prayers only when we are ill or if there is no God to hear them, the new research indicated that religious thoughts could help to heal.
Dr. Larry Dossey writes about the placebo effect mentioned earlier by Dan Barker and physicians who have looked at the tremendous amount of scientific studies on prayer. As Dr. Dossey states: "That is difficult to do considering that bacteria, fungi, and germinating seeds are not generally considered to be susceptible to suggestion."
Bacteria presumably do not think positively or negatively. Another major advantage of microorganisms in studies of distant mental intentions has to do with the control group. If the effects of intercessory prayer, for example, are being assessed in a group of humans who have a particular illness, it is difficult to establish a pure control group that does not receive prayer. The reason is that sick human beings generally pray for themselves; or outsiders pray for them, thus contaminating the control group, which by definition should not receive the treatment being evaluated.
In studies involving microbes, this notorious "Problem of Extraneous Prayer" is totally overcome because one can be reasonably certain that the bacteria, fungi, or yeast in a control group will not pray for themselves. And that their fellow microbes will not pray for them
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lilbluekitty
People think prayer doesn't work because they expect things to be answered instantly and they way THEY want it when they forget that God is the one who created them and has his own way of seeing things and his own time for doing things. I have had prayers answered, though sometimes it was not in a way I expected or the answer was no. Some people are too impatient and want everything on their terms and if they don't like the answer or what happens next, they decide that God doesn't exist. That's like a teenager asking their parents if they can go out late at night and the parents say no or they can go out on another night because that night is a school night and the teenager decides to pretend their parents don't exist and slam the door.
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Amelia Ashton
If that analogy was any good it would be that the teenager asked if he could go out and the parents said nothing and he waited and they stayed silent so he had to guess whether they heard and if the answer was yes or no and then make the decision himself.
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poopsiecakes
Great point, Amelia
lilbluekitty, with all due respect, what you said is a cop out that's been used for centuries. No matter what, if you believe and want to continue believing you have to tell yourself exactly what you stated because the second you really start thinking it all tumbles down like a house of cards.
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cofty
I have had prayers answered, though sometimes it was not in a way I expected or the answer was no. - lilbluekitty
I have heard that excuse for god so many times.
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nicolaou
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."How many BILLIONS of times over the last 20 centuries has this prayer been uttered? Has the kingdom come? Are we seeing His will being done on earth? Are people starving for the want of 'daily bread'? Have people been delivered from evil?
The greatest prayer experiment of all time and what has it proved?
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N.drew
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."How many BILLIONS of times over the last 20 centuries has this prayer been uttered? Has the kingdom come? Are we seeing His will being done on earth? Are people starving for the want of 'daily bread'? Have people been deivered from evil?
The greatest prayer experiment of all time and what has it proved?
I know what it means. Does it mean brains with heart are rare?
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poopsiecakes
Shhhh Nic - if that prayer isn't answered for some people it's because they aren't patient enough. And if they die of starvation while waiting it's all good - it just means god needed another angel.
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dinah
I prayed like crazy whilst I was waking up from the Borg. I was mostly expressing thoughts but it did help. When you pray you are basically talking to yourself. Get it all out, go to sleep and you will magically have answers in the morning.
