fookisan
Guest
"Pray...but keep rowing the boat." ~ from my wife.
On a Buddhist list, the following article was posted about a study that concluded that there is 'No health benefit' for the sick that have been prayed for. I will not agree or disagree with this study, as I make no claim to be the mouthpiece of God or to be able to answer the unanswerable. No, my specialty is in 'practical application' and not speculation. I will say that praying for others or sending them metta blessings of loving kindness as the Buddhists do will most definitely have a positive effect on the person that does the praying or blessing. The bible tells us that God's way is not man's way, so we must leave it at that when we pray. The only thing we must be concerned with is our effort and authenticity in prayer. Whether or not the recipient benefits from our prayers is not in our hands. As you instill seeds of peace within others you plant the same seeds and water these seeds within you as well. As you give so you receive. Proverbs 27:17 says Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance. So even if the recipient does not benefit from my efforts, I will benefit from them.
Sometime misguided persons work in a direction opposite of prayer or good will blessing by trying to curse or tear down others. Whenever we take it upon ourselves to beat down others, we are headed in a direction of destroying peace. We destroy our own peace as well as others peace. And even if our 'curse' has no effect on another, the same way that our prayer may not. Our curse or ill will towards of another will surely become a curse for us. Is this because of Karma or the Wrath of God? No, it is just how the nature of energy works. It takes no energy from me to pass something by and leave it alone in peace. But it takes my energy as well as my peace to pick something up to destroy it. "Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it. But few understand it in the mental and moral world" ~ James Allen.
"No health benefit from prayer" (No claim as to accuracy of article)
Patients did not know they were prayed for. The world's largest study into the effects of prayer on patients undergoing heart surgery has found it appears to make no difference. The MANTRA study, run from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, involved 750 patients. Before their operations, they were randomly split into two groups, and half were prayed for by Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims. However, checks revealed they had fared no better than those not prayed for. The results of the controversial study contradict earlier findings from the same team which suggested a drop of a quarter or more in "adverse outcomes" - including death, heart failure or heart attack. However, that trial involved only 150 patients, and the more extensive research, completed this year, found no evidence of any benefits.
The study is the subject of a BBC "Everyman" documentary to be broadcast next week. Prayer groups asked God to intervene. Prayer teams from various denominations and faiths were alerted by email to start intercessory prayer as soon as possible after the patient was enrolled on the trial. Neither hospital staff, the patients, or their relatives had any idea which patients' were receiving prayer, to prevent any chance of the results being skewed. After the patients had undergone an angioplasty procedure, in which a balloon is insterted into a heart artery and inflated to clear an obstruction, they were followed for six months to see how they progressed. 'Unwise test' Many theologians say that, even if you believe in the power of intercessory prayer, such a trial is doomed to failure because it "puts God to the test" - and there are clear instructions in the Bible not to do this.
The Bishop of Durham is critical of the experiment The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, said: "Prayer is not a penny in the slot machine. "You can't just put in a coin and get out a chocolate bar. "This is like setting an exam for God to see if God will pass it or not." Other experts are highly critical of the concept that the benefits of prayer might be "dose-dependent" - that is, that the benefits might increase as the number of people praying went up. This is particularly important, as Duke University is at the centre of the US "Bible belt" - and many of the trial participants, regardless of whether they were randomised to receive prayer during the trial, would be getting it from relatives and friends - and of course themselves. Dr Richard Sloan, from the New York Presbyterian Hospital, described the concept of a prayer "dose" as "absurd". He said: "It requires us to abandon our understanding of the physical universe."
end of article
Take Care,
fookisan
On a Buddhist list, the following article was posted about a study that concluded that there is 'No health benefit' for the sick that have been prayed for. I will not agree or disagree with this study, as I make no claim to be the mouthpiece of God or to be able to answer the unanswerable. No, my specialty is in 'practical application' and not speculation. I will say that praying for others or sending them metta blessings of loving kindness as the Buddhists do will most definitely have a positive effect on the person that does the praying or blessing. The bible tells us that God's way is not man's way, so we must leave it at that when we pray. The only thing we must be concerned with is our effort and authenticity in prayer. Whether or not the recipient benefits from our prayers is not in our hands. As you instill seeds of peace within others you plant the same seeds and water these seeds within you as well. As you give so you receive. Proverbs 27:17 says Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance. So even if the recipient does not benefit from my efforts, I will benefit from them.
Sometime misguided persons work in a direction opposite of prayer or good will blessing by trying to curse or tear down others. Whenever we take it upon ourselves to beat down others, we are headed in a direction of destroying peace. We destroy our own peace as well as others peace. And even if our 'curse' has no effect on another, the same way that our prayer may not. Our curse or ill will towards of another will surely become a curse for us. Is this because of Karma or the Wrath of God? No, it is just how the nature of energy works. It takes no energy from me to pass something by and leave it alone in peace. But it takes my energy as well as my peace to pick something up to destroy it. "Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it. But few understand it in the mental and moral world" ~ James Allen.
"No health benefit from prayer" (No claim as to accuracy of article)
Patients did not know they were prayed for. The world's largest study into the effects of prayer on patients undergoing heart surgery has found it appears to make no difference. The MANTRA study, run from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, involved 750 patients. Before their operations, they were randomly split into two groups, and half were prayed for by Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims. However, checks revealed they had fared no better than those not prayed for. The results of the controversial study contradict earlier findings from the same team which suggested a drop of a quarter or more in "adverse outcomes" - including death, heart failure or heart attack. However, that trial involved only 150 patients, and the more extensive research, completed this year, found no evidence of any benefits.
The study is the subject of a BBC "Everyman" documentary to be broadcast next week. Prayer groups asked God to intervene. Prayer teams from various denominations and faiths were alerted by email to start intercessory prayer as soon as possible after the patient was enrolled on the trial. Neither hospital staff, the patients, or their relatives had any idea which patients' were receiving prayer, to prevent any chance of the results being skewed. After the patients had undergone an angioplasty procedure, in which a balloon is insterted into a heart artery and inflated to clear an obstruction, they were followed for six months to see how they progressed. 'Unwise test' Many theologians say that, even if you believe in the power of intercessory prayer, such a trial is doomed to failure because it "puts God to the test" - and there are clear instructions in the Bible not to do this.
The Bishop of Durham is critical of the experiment The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, said: "Prayer is not a penny in the slot machine. "You can't just put in a coin and get out a chocolate bar. "This is like setting an exam for God to see if God will pass it or not." Other experts are highly critical of the concept that the benefits of prayer might be "dose-dependent" - that is, that the benefits might increase as the number of people praying went up. This is particularly important, as Duke University is at the centre of the US "Bible belt" - and many of the trial participants, regardless of whether they were randomised to receive prayer during the trial, would be getting it from relatives and friends - and of course themselves. Dr Richard Sloan, from the New York Presbyterian Hospital, described the concept of a prayer "dose" as "absurd". He said: "It requires us to abandon our understanding of the physical universe."
end of article
Take Care,
fookisan
