An experiment on the power of prayer
IF you are sick and you know that someone is praying for you, will that facilitate your recovery?
In 2006, Dr. Herbert Benson and his associates published in the American Heart Journal the result of their study on the effect of intercessory prayer on patients suffering from coronary heart disease.
Before their heart bypass surgery, 604 patients were informed that some people MIGHT be praying for them; 597 patients were told that some people WOULD pray for them, although no one actually did so; and 601 patients were ASSURED of the prayers of some people who actually did pray for them.
After the operation, complications occurred in 52 percent of patients in the first group and in 51 percent of those in the second group. In the third group where patients knew that some people actually prayed for them, 59 percent experienced complications.
The researchers concluded that if sick people knew that prayers were being offered for their recovery, this would result in higher incidence of complications. Their study seems to imply that we need not bother praying for sick people. And if we must pray anyway for the sick, we should not tell them about this because the mere knowledge of it will worsen their sickness.
Now what is wrong with this experiment? The study hypothesizes that prayer, by itself, can heal the sick. It reflects the mistaken thinking that it is our prayer that moves mountains, heals the sick, converts sinners, wins lotteries, assures victories, retrieves the lost, and raises the dead.
Our Lord commanded us to pray. He even asked us to pray unceasingly. But He did not ask us to place our trust and confidence in our prayers. We must have faith only in Him — in His faithfulness to His promises, His wisdom, power, and goodness.
What happens when we have more faith in our prayer than in God? Rather than focus on God, we begin to concentrate on the quality, intensity, and frequency of our prayer. Instead of opening up to God in total receptivity, we turn inwards, feeling guilty and inadequate every time our prayer is not answered the way we want God to respond. We start to think that, maybe, we are not praying well, or not praying enough, that is why God does not listen.
What complicates our misunderstanding of prayer is our obsession for instant answers. When we do not get what we want from God, we easily tire of praying. Treating Him like one of our friends in the social media, we stop communicating when we lose interest. We turn off our cell phones or computer, or simply push with our finger the words delete, escape, exit, sign out.
As today’s gospel reading reminds us, there are many things that we pray for that come only after a long wait. Things that we get easily, we also lose easily. The really precious and valuable things in life demand painstaking nurturance. They demand patience, perseverance, and persistence.
Seeking, asking and knocking imply not only paying lip service to the need for prayer. These acts mean focusing our mind and heart on God whom we believe knows, not only what we want, but more importantly, what we truly need.
Meryl Streep, in the movie Out of Africa, gave a severe warning to those of us who are too focused in manipulating God to grant us what we desire. She said: “When God wants to punish you, He answers your prayers.”