Does Prayer Healing Work?
Intercessory prayer (praying for the benefit of others) is widely accepted and practiced throughout the world. For the skeptically minded, however, the efficacy of intercessory prayer may be hard to accept, since there is no scientifically demonstrated mechanism by which thoughts can be transported by the mind. Yet, the findings of a recent study at the Cardiology Division of the San Francisco General Hospital seem to indicate that intercessory prayer can be beneficial. The study used a randomized, controlled, double-blind protocol to test the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God. Nearly 400 coronary care patients were assigned to either the prayer group or the control group. Christians praying at a location outside the hospital prayed for the individuals in the prayer group. The control group did not receive prayers from the Christians. Compared to the control group, at the end of the study those patients receiving prayers had less congestive heart fai
