Do Prayers for Healing Work?

Many people have questions about prayers for healing. In fact, when you bring up the subject of prayer and healing, the image that comes to many people's minds is that of a tele-evangelist, individuals in wheel chairs and television cameras. While this may result in healing what we will look at hear are the actual cases where prayer for healing have been studied as well as what to think when a person is not healed. People Who Are Not Healed Are there people who are not healed? Without a doubt this is true, however, it is also safe to say that if there were healing each and every time it was prayed for no one would ever die! Even Elisha, a great prophet who knew how to pray to God, died from an illness. The Bible clearly states that man has an appointed number of days to live and there are times when illness is simply a means to that end. Of course, the span of a man's life is not the only reason prayer for healing may not be answered in the affirmative. Sin in a person’s life hinders prayer from being answered. Also, having idles -such as money - in our heart that we worship over God will hinder prayer. Such things as unbelief, unforgiveness and not praying for God’s will also hinder prayer from being answered. rnIt is also possible to pray for a person’s healing and they die; God may very well have answered the prayer by bringing about the ultimate healing of that person in heaven. These are simply several examples of possible reasons a person could pray and not find healing. It is important that people read and study so that they understand all the components of healing. Studies Evangelists are not the only people who believe that prayer can lead to healing. There have been several studies in the past by reputable organizations such as Duke University, which studied the effects of prayer on patients. Using the understanding of the placebo effect, where people will simply get better because they believe they will, patients would be separated into groups; one group would have their names added to a prayer list without their knowledge and the other group would not. One notable study was done with heart patients. What doctors found was the patients whose names were on the prayer list did 50-100% better than those who were not. Similar studies have been done through Harvard University and even other lesser known institutions, all with the same results. People who are prayed for, even when they are unaware of the prayer, do significantly better than those who are not prayed for. There are plans underway for studies with larger numbers of patients. Conclusion The truth is prayer works. The faithful understand this, and the scientific community is learning. There may be times when healing does not come even though prayer is offered and it is at these times when we must understanding that faith is not the imposition of our will on God, but of cooperating with his will. This is not an easy subject to discuss, even in religious circles, but when you go to the evidence, it is clear, prayer for healing does work.