Prayer Makes a Difference
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16, NIV.
Prayer does make a difference. During the past decade increasing research has examined the efficacy of prayer in the healing process. For centuries Christians have attested to the power of prayer in the context of healing. But for the scientific community to become interested in it is indeed amazing.
Larry Dossey, physician and author, in his book Healing Words, corroborates the testimony of Christians on the power of prayer in healing. After graduating from medical school with the belief that prayer was little more than superstition, he confesses that “for many years I’d ignored prayer. I considered it an arbitrary, optional frill that simply was not in the same league as drugs and surgery.” However, after years of practicing medicine Dossey discovered a single scientific study that strongly supported the power of prayer in getting well. He describes how his “white-coated scientific” worldview became unsettled and he started on 10 years of research examining the relationship of prayer and healing. After extensive research Dossey found that the majority of more than 100 experiments “exhibited the criteria of good science” and showed that prayer brings about significant changes.
What is Dossey’s conclusion? “Prayer complements but does not take the place of good medicine.” He describes how prayer has great potential in the healing realm and may be compatible with modern physics. Dossey views prayer not as something that needs “selling” but as “a neglected area of medical science.”
One may not agree with all of Dossey’s views or conclusions. Others may argue that Christians don’t need science to back up what they already know. Nevertheless, Dossey’s research focuses attention on the reality of healing from a spiritual perspective.
Prayer is a means for us to communicate with the God of the universe, who has made us and sustains us. It is through this means that God invites all of us, His creation, to take advantage of His wonderful and effective power. As the apostle James says: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Is there someone you know who is hurting or ill and needs healing? Your prayers can make a difference. Why not talk to God about it right now?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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