The Problem With Prayer

[Trinity]

Originally Posted by IncitingRiots

I never said there was anything wrong with people who want to pray. It is a personal choice, to be sure. I was simply stating why I feel it to be a useless endeavor. The true mark of a lazy person who is always looking for a quick fix. You say that many studies have revealed it to be a healtful practice. Well I am skeptical any time someone uses the phrase "studies show" or any variation thereof. Since there have been many studies done, you wouldn't mind providing me with one would you?

This study below was realized in my country.

"In one early study done at the McGill University in Montreal by Dr. Bernard Grad, eighteen children with terminal leukemia were old to pray to God every night before going to bed. Another eighteen children with terminal leukemia were not told this. Ninety percent of the praying children survived an average of fourteen months. Only thirty-seven percent of the nonpraying children lived that long. Notice that this study does not prove that prayer CURES terminal leukemia. It only prolonged the children's lives. It did not necessarily heal them. Also note that the praying children at were very much aware that faith was being used to help them. We cannot rule out the psychosomatic effect here. Similar successes have been achieved when adults with terminal cancer were simply given psychological counseling during their fight for life. The counseled group lived longer than the noncounseled group This study does show that prayer is good for one's mental health and that improved mental health can prolong life."

Recommended books:

Healing Words
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/IS...rioconsultanA/

Prayer Is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer (I have read this one)
http://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Good-Me...ref=pd_sim_b_2

You can call this a placebo effect or a psychosomatic phenomenon but you cannot deny that praying could be healthful. I also understand that it is a controversial issue. However, this is an issue discussed into varied medical journals, and more research are done about the potential of the prayer or meditation into an healing process.

Can Spirituality Improve Your Health?
Larry Dossey, MD
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

"In US medical schools, one of the fastest growing areas of study is the healing power of... prayer. Seventy-nine of the nation's 125 medical schools now offer courses on prayer and spirituality. A decade ago, only three medical schools offered such cl***es.

Is there any scientific evidence to support the use of prayer in the prevention or treatment of disease? Researchers have conducted approximately 200 scientific studies on prayer and health. About two-thirds of these studies have shown positive results in patients with chest pain, heart attack and AIDS.

How was the research conducted? One of the most impressive studies is being conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. The research, which will soon be published in the American Journal of Cardiology, shows how prayer affects heart patients."
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/art...ticle_id=30204

Trinity