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Can Prayer Heal?
Posted by Solaris2008 • 3/06/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: prayer
Can Prayer Heal? What do you think? Do you believe prayer is healing?
User Comments
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Not by the fact of utterance it doesn't. In fact, it's track record in healing is no better than any physician. Some statistics even say it makes a patient worse off for it. That would not be surprising as the madhouse of churches is something from which many patients at least secretly want to escape.
What seems to have better effect is when prayer in incorporated into dreaming practices including meditation. A cultivated dreamer understands how to do this. Some have effected healing with this. But there are no statistics to give any more than anecdotal evidence.
Those who pray properly don't pray for the sake of proving anything. They do it because that is their language of being and of relating to the universe and whoever else they may conceive.
A priestess of Isis wrote to me one day, saying that even people in committed groups often don't seek initiation as much as they are seeking to heal themselves." I think she had some real insight in this one. People do have a bad habit of approaching Godhead for the wrong reasons, including a healing that enables them to just go their business of what's often harmful.-
priestess of Isis? Whose next Orion? Seth? I guess whatever floats your sinking boat. -
"In fact, it's track record in healing is no better than any physician."
You are not serious about even making such a comparison, right? -
@JFRSRLS a very inflammatory comment, obviously meant to be insulting to those of other faiths.
@dsriharsha No. I am quite serious. What is called prayer is nothing more than a mummery. Such has no evidence by any empiric proof to show that it heals better than any physician. All evidence about a prayer working is anecdotal and will probably be explained by other means. And I would maintain that it isn't prayer that does the healing at all, but the Divine. That's a different matter entirely. -
By my quote.. I meant that it is not logical to even think of comparing the two.. not that I mean prayer is better than medicine.. I am totlly against prayer
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O...well that's a good way to look at it.
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Yes prayer heals because in order to pray you need to have FAITH in something. The very nature of faith or belief in ANYTHING besides yourself creates a positive energy within yourself and around yourself. You attract confidence through faith. So yes, prayer helps one move in the direction of healing. I do it every day. -
Nope.
Benson H, Dusek JA et al. "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: a multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer." American Heart Journal. 2006 April; 151(4): p. 762-4.
This is a study paid for by Christian dollars that demonstrates the lack of effect of prayer. I apologize for the lack of a URL.-
I've got [the link] but I'm not bothering to locate it or post it because it's utterly useless to try and have a sensible discussion with those who have chosen to self hypnotize and that's what "belief" is -- self hypnosis.
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psychologically, there could be a mind over matter effect. I have heard of fake acupuncture being as affective as real acupuncture... then agin it that is ACUPUNCTURE, so who know how effective it was in the first place -
Placebo.
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Damned good point--it works if your mind accepts it. -
Not even. See the citation of the study I posted above.
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Mental energy improves one's well being. -
It has worked an untold amount of times. You won't find reports of it though in the media. You have to dig deeper online for articles about it.
I have been reading them since I got the Internet in the 1990s and wondered why it never gets covered. Miracles happens every day because of prayer but you will never hear about it on the news.-
True!
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Of course prayer can heal. What a lot of people don't realize, especially those who are scientifically inclined is that when you believe in Jesus Christ and that he was sent by an Almighty Creator, you have all of the power in the universe at the tip of your fingers and God will heal you!
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so next time you catch gangrene.. we shall all pray to almighty and Jesus that your leg gets cured and dont bother going to a surgeon to get it operated upon.. shall we?
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No, we are supposed to take care of ourselves by visiting a physician. Its not a one or the other deal. We visit a physician and pray, if we so choose.
simple. -
If prayer cannot cure anything that medicine can't.. and even then, it is the medicine that cures you, what is the point of prayer then?
In your case.. you are taking both the pill and the placebo.. why do you need the placebo if you have the pill -
Simply this, ds...by presenting to the Divine that we have done our part, we act in good faith and not as those who are lazy. The rest is committing to the matter to the Divine. The Divine may offer through the medicine or in spite of it. Or the Divine may refuse. One does not harm at any rate, and still honors the Divine.
As for the prayer itself, it IS pointless as far as trying to heal with words.
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As being a former preacher and pastor, yes prayer helps n the healing process , but its the devine healing power of Jesus Christ.that heals a person.-
I absolutely agree.
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Now that is the approach I can regard highly.
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The question is if prayer is just positive thoughts? -
i don,t know im agnostic
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No God.-
But God is the ultimate healer. He is the most merciful, most compassionate.
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There are n-number of people around the world who suffer !
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Princeton is involved in a project supplying research data and evidence that unified intention and thought indeed affects the physical world. Much of this information is posted on the website:
"Our purpose is to examine subtle correlations that may reflect the presence and activity of consciousness in the world. When millions of us share intentions and emotions the GCP/EGG network shows small changes that accumulate, becoming evidence for our general hypothesis. Among our allies working toward a more conscious future are the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the Global Coherence Initiative, and many like-minded groups."
noosphere.princeton.edu/
I'm no scientist... and most of the data on the site is complex and for all intents and purposes could be complete B.S. But I'm thinking if it carries the princeton.edu tag in it's URL- the validity of the info can be trusted. -
I agree with JFSRULZ. According to the expert some believe prayers and spirituality can bring healing and others disagree.
But God is the ultimate healer. He is the most merciful, most compassionate. All you need to do is firmly and unequivocally believe in him and his power over everything and every one, and ask: just ASK for His help, his forgiveness and his mercy and he shall provide.
Check the story of this Virginia man was left with brain damage after being involved in a motorcycle accident. His chance of recovery was slim but his mother believes prayer helped him defy the odds. www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4535499n-
[According to the expert some believe]
What does this part even mean?
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One of the easy ways to prove God exists is through miracle cures of diseases because of prayers.
I remember over the years plenty of cases where doctors saying of people being cured fully of diseases where they had a death sentence. They had no explanation for it.
I been reading of cases like that since I was a kid.
They hardly ever get mentioned on TV. They are on religious sites though. The problem is people who don't believe in God never go on those sites, so they have no idea why we believe in God so much. If they only knew -
I absolutely agree mikeny07. Not like other didn't get the logic.
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I shall never forget the first miracle I ever witnessed, it was at a large meeting in London, the Preach (who is noted for a healing ministry) had told everyone not to expect any healings to take place that night as to recieve healing people usually need to understand how God heals.
After the sermon he prayed and having closed the meeting was walking off stage.
Now my attention was attracted by a commotion some rows ahead of me, alittle girl 6 years old, she was a little blonde darling,she had come to the meeting with a huge amplification belt around her chest, a deaf mute, never heard a sound, never made a sound. During prayer her ears came open and she suddenly became aware of the noise of people all around her, I can never forget her for her face lit up like little angel.
The Preach suddenly stopped and came back to the microphone and announced to the people that a miracle had taken place, somebody who had come to the meeting deaf [he said] had been healed.
By this time the lady had come to the front with her little girl and she was taken up on stage, she could hear everything, and she made her very first vocal sounds.
The following night the Preacher was only on the platform 10 minutes or so when he had to quit preaching, people were getting healed all over the place-you had better believe it was a mad-house meeting-of course people get excited, some cry some laugh but there is a great deal of joy to be sure among people coming out of wheelchairs and taking off medical casts and braces, discarding crutches etc.
I was in awe at the sheer numbers and said "oh Lord is this really happening?"
A dear West Indian lady who was standing behind me on crutches suddenly let out a whoop and a hallelujah and threw her crutches in the air [are West Indian christians happy or what] and she started running up and down the steps, she was healed.
I have personally prayed for a man who was to have had his arm amputated in the morning, but when he awoke the gangarene was in his bed his arm was perfectly healed.
One day a man came to Jesus with his son and cried "oh Lord if You can do anything please help us" Jesus said "If thou canst only believe, all things are possible to him that believest."
Sorry atheist-you are too late
sorry cynic-you are too late
I have seen with my own eyes, I know, Jesus will forgive every sin and He will heal every kind of disease. But unbelievers will get nowt from Him.-
I've been to many such meetings witnessing what you have just told. But few of these "healings" are ever confirmed and it turns out that a lot of the ones who apparently were healed reverted to that which with they had been inflicted. Some were even exposed later as cohorts of the healer...much like a cohort of a stage magician. I don't look at what appears to be in meetings like that as "proof."
So please do the world a favor and demonstrate clinical evidences of what you witnessed. That should help a lot.
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Nope, deep inner faith can possibly heal within a personal occurrence. Only faith, nothing else.-
That make sense, really
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Smith Wigglesworth is a good name to google,the miracles that are associated with his ministry are staggering.
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Yes I believe if you have faith in your heart. -
Faith yes, not prayers. But if the symptoms persist, see a doctor as well
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absolutely not ... -
I have friends who were healed by faith in Christ. -
No. Prayer does not heal--but people who feel optimistic heal more quickly than those who feel pessimistic--so if a person feels optimistic that people are praying for her/him, then that might benefit healing.
But one person praying for you doesn't have any effect whatsover on the healing process. Believe me. It's just hooey.-
It's all about placebo effect.
Believing that prayer helps and having faith may help on the heal process due to the optimistic point of view.
It's the same as that technique of calling clowns to make patients smile on the hospital. The clowns are there to make them think more optimistically. -
Exactly!
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I have heard some pretty freaky stories from preachers but it all boils down to faith. It really cannot be proven that someone gets better from prayer, so it falls to faith. -
Praying is not a treatment itself
Praying is just an act that may help you psychologically to deal with the problem (disease, treatment or whatever we're talking about)in a more optimistic way.
Praying is an extra tool to help you in your fighting, it's not the main weapon.
At least that's what I think-
And really? You are spot on. The notion that prayer in and of itself heals--well, it's just hooey.
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@shadowmoon87 and mtyler77
I agree with you two. There have been studies and follow-ups done on those who were allegedly cured of all kinds of illnesses by alleged miracles performed by leading faith healers in the USA. Not a single "healing" proved to be true. All of the sick people were still sick once the euphoria wore off.
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Why yes, prayer can heal. Every time I try to pray it heals my insomnia. -
A year ago now, the region where I live, Catalunya, was in dire need of water. Reservoirs were down to 20 per cent capacity, and they had just started shipping water in boats from France. In parallel, people started "gifting" cell towers (placing orgonite nearby) which (inadvertently or not) seemingly have an effect on weather patterns. Over a few days, the muck in the sky cleared up and many sylphs appeared (a sign of a healthy atmosphere). Then, after three days of non stop rain, the reservoirs rose to 50 per cent capacity. After making headlines for two years, the angst-ridden drought topic gradually dropped off the radar screen. The towers were now omitting positive orgone, which quickly healed the atmosphere.
www.warriormatrix.com/about5009.html
You may be wondering, what does this have to do with prayer? Well an aunt - a devout Catholic - who had been praying for rain for many weeks, believed her prayers had been answered.
I didn't have the heart to tell her about Wilhelm Reich. LOL!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L3tKddZFic -
I think there is something to it. To a certain degree at least. Theres something to positive thinking and thought projection. -
I certainly agree that if you believe in prayer, then that belief in and of itself can be helpful. If we use a different word or phrase other than prayer -- say positive thinking or whatever -- then perhaps it is easier to accept the connection.
I would add to all this that many studies have shown that humor and laughter are effective in helping the mind and body heal. So after you are done praying, watch Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. -
Absolutely! -
I am speaking from personal experience here
HELL YES -
Contrary to what it may look like I am suggesting in the above post, I do believe prayer affects the etheric makeup (ie creates positive orgone), in the same way ritual sacrifices are detrimental to the etheric makeup.
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When I get sick, I pray to the doctor and ask him to give me medicine. It heals every time. -
prayers can heal but it depends in your faith. -
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The devil fights very hard to keep you from hearing or reading God's word, he is afraid God will impart faith to your heart and you'll see how wonderful Jesus is-then you'll start praying and he[the devil] will be finished in your life.
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