Does prayer for the sick make a difference?
Lots of studies try to quantify what difference prayer has on your health and recovery from surgery. Some say it makes a lot of difference, and some say it doesn’t make any difference at all. But every survey says this: a person who is connected with a close community—like a church—will recover faster and will live longer. What makes it hard for people to recover? Fear, anger, anxiety, stress, loneliness; any doctor will confirm that. The church can address those very things. God doesn’t miraculously heal every Christian who gets sick, but God can minister to those people through his Body. I think that is what we are here for: to surround the sick with caring people and let them know they are not alone. It’s hard to quantify it, and it’s not institutionalized. But it happens in every church I know of. That’s a great gift that the church can offer. Is it wrong to pray for a sports team to win? What a question! I find nothing in the Bible that might apply to this theological question, so
