The Power Of Prayer...

I always believed in the power of prayer. If anything goes wrong for anyone I love, or even strangers, I pray for them. Many times prayers are answered. Sometimes they are answered exactly as we would like, other times in ways we do not expect, and sometimes they do not seem to be answered at all. But if we are praying to an almighty, all-knowing God, then we have to believe that prayers are answered in a way that fits His plan for us.

Is there really something to the power of prayer? Can anyone measure the power of prayer and the good it can do? It seems, contrary to what one might think, that scientists have been conducting studies for decades to determine the benefits of prayer. Many of these experiments had people praying for patients and measuring their progress and release from the hospital against those patients who were not being prayed for. Science and religion do not go together, and yet there have been enough medical miracles which could not be explained by science, that warrant looking into “alternative” explanations.

But, prayer doesn’t lend itself very well to scientific studies. There are too many variables to account for and too much subjectivity. From what I have read, some studies find there are great benefits to patients who have been prayed for, while others find none. There are even studies that found it could be detrimental to patients who knew they were being prayed for because it raised their expectations and were disappointed when they weren’t met.

I do not need scientific proof that prayers work. I have enough personal experience to know there is great power in prayer. I have seen it with my own eyes. I think most people have. And, considering the state of the world, the country, and many people we know…prayer may be the best weapon we have to combat all the ills around us.

So, for the next few days I am doing my own experiment. I am going to post this on my Facebook page: I have several friends who are going through life crises right now. Can we all please take a moment to pray for them and for all our friends, whose problems we may not know, but who need our prayers all the same. Maybe a community of Facebook people, praying together, to help all of our friends in need, might just be what we all need to get through some very trying times. I hope so. I hope they can, at the very least, feel the support and love of their friends and that it gives them the strength to cope.

The power of prayer works miracles and I am living proof.