1  2  3  Next

From American Heart Journal:

Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in Cardiac Bypass Patients: A Multicenter Randomized Trial of Uncertainty and Certainty of Receiving Intercessory Prayer

Herbert Benson, MD; Jeffery A. Dusek, PhD; Jane B. Sherwood, RN; Peter Lam, PhD; Charles F. Bethea, MD; William Carpenter, MDiv; Sidney Levitsky, MD; Peter C. Hill, MD; Donald W. Clem, Jr, MA; Manoj K. Jain, MD, MPH; David Drumel, MDiv; Stephen L. Kopecky, MD; Paul S. Mueller, MD; Dean Marek; Sue Rollins, RN, MPH; Patricia L. Hibberd, MD, PhD

Background: Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials. Prior studies have not addressed whether prayer itself or knowledge/certainty that prayer is being provided may influence outcome. We evaluated whether (1) receiving intercessory prayer or (2) being certain of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with uncomplicated recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Methods: Patients at 6 US hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 604 received intercessory prayer after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; 597 did not receive intercessory prayer also after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; and 601 received intercessory prayer after being informed they would receive prayer. Intercessory prayer was provided for 14 days, starting the night before CABG. The primary outcome was presence of any complication within 30 days of CABG. Secondary outcomes were any major event and mortality.

Results: In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). Complications occurred in 59% (352/601) of patients certain of receiving intercessory prayer compared with the 52% (315/604) of those uncertain of receiving intercessory prayer (relative risk 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28). Major events and 30-day mortality were similar across the 3 groups.

Conclusions: Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.

   

And your point?

   

God gets mad at you if you pray...

   

what argument can anyone give .

   

,.and those songs. There so depressing!

   

God: What are you doing now?
King Arthur: Averting our eyes, oh Lord.
God: Well, don't. It's just like those miserable psalms, always so depressing. Now knock it off!


God: Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive me that" and "I'm not worthy"...

   

I onyl pray to the God of Canada for myself and Canada,

   

He was a personable god, back then.

   

I pray to god everyday that he will kill you. He never does so clearly he doesn't exist.

   

This thread reminds me of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, where some guy proves that God doesn't exist...

   

I just did.

   

That not only does prayer have no effect in helping these people recover, but it actually increased chances of complications significantly.

It may be due to people focussing less on getting better (assuming God will step in), or perhaps the opposite - they feel pressured to get better knowing that people are praying for them, and the added stress is detrimental to their health.

   

Well, the God of Canada still exists...

I pray every night that Canada will kick ass for another day.

And everyday I wake up and discover my prayers have been answered!

   

I had this exchange with a noted atheist, then-Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl (on the TV show Dobie Gillis she was Zelda) in 1995:

(She was speaking to me about six inches from my face in a hallway at the California State Capitol)

SK: THERE IS NO GOD YOU #$@#@%!!!!

Bart: Yes, there is, He is protecting you, and you're about to agree with me on that.

SK: (I forget exactly what her riposte was at this point but it was loud)

Bart: My accountablility to God is all that stands between me and your throat at this moment. Were it not for God, you'd be dead by now. So, if you'd like, I'll renounch God and then the next thing I'm going to do is to put you out of my misery.

SK: (silence)

Bart: C'mon, don't you want me to renounce God? That's what you want, right? Are you as willing to die for atheism as I am willing to kill you for it?

SK: YOU'RE INSANE!!!!

Bart: Be that as it may you still have a question to answer.

And at that point she ran away. It wasn't pretty, trust me.

But the truth of it was that my accountability to God prevented me from doing what I so truly wanted to do at that precise moment. God protected her from me. So, at least for Sheila Kuehl, God is proven to exist.

Oh, yeah....a picture of Sheil Kuehl:

   

That proves nothing, other than your tendency to imply threats of violence when someone disagrees with you.

Speaks volumes of your character if you've no basic morality without watchful eye of your Sky-Daddy.

Anything to add to the actual topic of the thread, Bart?

   

1  2  3  Next