Few  subjects  related  to  prayer  are  questioned  more  than praying for the sick and praying for personal health issues. In some Christian circles when prayers for the sick or health issues are brought  up  there  is  a  darting  to  disclaim  miraculous  healing,  such  as  we  see  claimed  by  a televangelist.  I  would  lead  the  parade  in  affirming  disbelief  in  such  so-called  healing.  That doesn’t mean, however that there isn’t a need to examine the relationship of prayer to health.

The  Bible  and  research  have  information  on  this  question:  Are  there  any  health  benefit  from prayer? First,  let’s  notice  some  commands  relative  to  praying  for  the  sick:  Is  anyone  among  you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick. Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sin, He will be forgiven (James 5:13-15).

Whatever interpretation we may place on these verses, one thing is clear and that is God has commanded us to pray for and with the sick. Why would He require this if there are no health benefits given in answer to prayer?

Fourth, King Hezekiah had a health problem. In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed  to  the  Lord,  saying,  ‘Remember  now,  O  Lord,  I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly (2 Kings 20:1-3).God answered the King’s prayer and added fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:6). Remember, this Old Testament story was  written for our learning  (Romans 15:4). We can pray about health issues and God will answer according to His will for our lives. Fifth, Timothy, the young evangelist mentored  by the apostle Paul, evidently had some kind of  stomach  health  issue,  while  I’m  sure  Paul  must  have  prayed for Timothy, he gave him this health advice:  No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your frequent infirmities (1 Timothy  5:23).  As  a  side  point  it  is  clear  that  the Apostles  never  used  their  power to perform miracles to arbitrarily heal people. Peter didn’t heal Paul relative to the thorn in the flesh. Sixth, in writing to the Philippians the apostle Paul shares some good news about the faithful servant, Epaphroditus:  [S]ince he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he is sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have  sorrow upon sorrow (Philippians 2:26, 27). I think it is within reason to believe Paul and the church prayed for Epaphroditus.

The  biblical  evidence  is  clear.  Prayer  is  to  be  offered  for  the  sick;  sometimes “medicine” is offered as a remedy, but it every case God’s will should be prayed for and accepted. There are health benefits in prayer.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH RELATIVE TO HEALTH BENEFITS OF PRAYER

It  has  been  amazing  how much attention has been given in recent years by scientist, medical doctors, the government, mental health professional, etc. to the subject of the health benefits of prayer. Few of these have had as the basis of their studies a theological premises; most have been  based  on  the  anatomy  and  physiological  makeup  of  human  beings.  How  does  the  body respond to prayer? has been one of the basic question researchers have been trying to answer. Without  delving  into  the  theological  issues  related to  these  studies,  let’s  just  take  a  moment and note some findings of those who have researched the relationship of prayer to health.

I typed in “Health Benefits of Prayer” into my computer search engine and 13,300.000 results popped up. Evidently there is a lot of interest in  the health benefits of prayer. Here are some research observations on the subject:

• NewsMax presented a sales pitch for The Mind Health Report which offered an article on 47  Scientific  Benefits  of  Prayer,  by  a  Dr. Newberg.  It referenced the benefits of prayer relative to reducing pain, stress, lowering blood pressure, improving memory, helps one be more optimistic, less fearful, less angry, etc. Prayer obviously has some psychological benefits (cf. Proverbs 23:7; Mark 7:21-26).
• In a 2010 study reported in the  Social Psychology Quarterly, it was stated  that prayer can  help  manage  and  healthfully  express  emotional  pain  including  illness,  sadness, trauma and anger.
• In the  Journal of Psychology and Theology (1991, 1, 71-83)a study was referenced that demonstrated that prayer and prayer experiences have a positive effect on the general health of those who practice praying.
• Researchers  at  the  University  of  Cincinnati  found  that  asthma  urban  adolescents experienced worse symptoms when not using spiritual coping like prayer or relaxation.
• Concerning  the  health  benefits  of  prayer,  the  popular  television  physician,  Dr.  Oz,  has numerous positive observations about the health benefits of prayer. Here are some of his  observations:  Of those people who said they prayed for health reasons, 70 percent said  that  prayer  was  helpful.  Why?  Seems  like  it  may  work  through  several  different mechanisms: It relaxes…It’s positive…It may be a placebo effect.
• A Duke University study of a group of 4,000 people  over age 64 found that those who prayed  regularly  had  significantly  lower  blood  pressure  than  those  who  prayed intermittently.  At  Dartmouth  Medical  Center,  one  of the  best  predictors  of  survival among 232 heart patients was the degree to which they drew comfort from prayer. In studies  at  several  medical  centers,  prayer  had  been shown  to  speed  recovery  from depression, stroke, hip surgery, rheumatoid arthritis, heart attacks, bypass surgery, and alcoholism (Dr. Kathleen Hill, www.sharecare.com).
• In the  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin from Ohio State University it is shown that  persons  provoked  by  insulting  comments  from  a  stranger  show  less  anger  and aggression  soon  afterwards  if  they  take  time  to  pray  for  another  person  after  the account.  This  would  be  a  great  exercise  the  next  time  you  are  cut  off  in  traffic  or tailgated.
• In  1991,  S.P.  Laird  in  his  doctorate  dissertation,  University  of  Kansas,  reported  that  a preliminary investigation into the role of prayer as a coping technique for adult patients with arthritis revealed several things: 1) having faith in prayer was positively related to better emotional adjustment, 2) praying more days per week was positively related to fewer  health  concerns,  3)  engaging  in  confessional  prayer  was  positively  related  to having more health concerns, 4) engaging in receptive prayer was positively related to greater  social  involvement   with friends and relatives. (blog.beliefnet.com/prayer plain and simple/2009/10).
• According to a study by Dr. Anne McCaffrey of the Harvard Medical School, one-third of Americans  use  prayer  to  facilitate  physical  healing.  Sixty-nine  percent  of  the  2,000 people surveyed said prayer greatly improved their health.
• An  Australian  researcher,  R.  D’Souza,  has  affirmed  that  patients  consider  prayer  and spiritual  issues  to  be  important  and  express  the  conviction  that  caregivers  should  be aware of their beliefs.

While research continues to explore the health benefits of prayer from the scientific point of view,  which  is  just  another  way  of  letting  light  shine  on  one  of  the  amazing  power  of  prayer given  by  God.  For  the  Christian  there  is  belief  and trust  in  God  to  answer  prayers  related  to health issues, but always according to His will. No, it is not expecting a miraculous answer such as  Jesus  and  His  Apostles  were  able  to  perform.  It  is  a  simple  and  faithful  obedience  to  the command, Is any among you sick, let him pray.

Relative to questions about prayer few are asked more frequently than, When should I pray?According
to  the  apostle  Paul  the  answer  is,  Praying  without  stopping  (1  Thessalonians  5:17).   Paul  is  actually
saying  “don’t  abandon  your  prayer  life”  (habits).  Since  God  does  not  sleep  (Psalm  121:1-4),  He  is
ALWAYS listening and waiting for our prayers. Here are a number of answers to WHEN we should pray
that I have discovered in the Bible:
1. When we are in a predicament we should pray; like Jonah was in the belly of a whale (Jonah 2:1).
2. We should pray when we are in confinement; like Paul and Silas were in prison (Acts 16:25).
3. We should pray when we are thankful, which should be daily (Colossians 4:2).
4. We should pray when someone requests prayer (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
5. We should pray when our government leaders need prayer, which is all the time (1 Timothy 2:1-5).
6. We should pray when we need wisdom, which is an ongoing need ( James 1:1-5).
7.  We  should pray, as sad as it may sound, when we  are approaching death (Acts 7: 59, 60; Hebrews
9:27).
8. We should pray when we are in trouble, like the sailors on the ship going to Joppa (Jonah 1:14-16).
9. We should pray when we are making plans for the future (James 4:13-17).
10. We should pray when we need to confess our sins, which is perpetually (1 John 1:7-9).
11. We should pray when we face temptation, which is daily (Matthew 6:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13).
12.  We  should  pray  when  we  are  anxious  and  worried, which  is  frequent  because  of  life’s  pressures
(Philippians 4:6).
13. We should pray when we have decisions to make, which is almost daily (Luke 6:12, 13; Joshua 24:15).
14.  We should pray when we feel discouraged, which  is easy to occur in today’s setbacks ( Ephesians
6:18).
15. We should pray when we know people don’t like us or actually hate us (Matthew 5:44).
16. We should pray when we extend a blessing to someone (Matthew 19:13).
17. We should pray as we think about the needs of others (John 17:9).
18.  We  should  pray  when  there is a need for missionaries, which is all the time (Matthew 9:38; Luke
10:2).
19. We should pray when the church needs to be prayed for, which is all the time (2 Corinthians 5:20).
20. We need to pray when we need to abound in love,which is all the time (Philippians 1:9).
21. We need to pray when we need spiritual understanding, which is all the time (Colossians 1:9).
22. We need to pray when it is morning, evening, and night, which occurs every day (Psalm 55:17).
23. We need to pray when a member of the church is in trouble (Acts 12:5).
24.  We  need  to  pray  when  we  are  rejoicing  and  our  hearts  are  filled  with  joy  (Romans  12:12;  Psalm
118:24).
25. We need to pray when we know others have needs (Job 42:10; James 1:27).
26. We need to pray when we need to ask God for something ( Matthew 7:7-12).
27. We need to pray when someone wants to pray withus (Matthew 18: 19, 20).
28. We need to pray when someone is sick (James 5:13-19).
29. We need to pray when we want to glorify and praise God, which is perpetually (Ephesians 3:21).
30. We need to pray when we are choosing leaders (Acts 1:24-26; 14:23).
These are just a few of the biblical reasons affirming when we should pray. Again it is Paul’s reminder,
Don’t stop prayer(1 Thessalonians 5;17). Don’t stop praying; the answer is coming. God is listening and
waiting.

Today the banner or cross of Christ is honoured in what is called Christianity, by more people on planet earth than at any other time in history; more than one billion. As the church  has  moved  from  the  caves  to  the  cathedrals,   she  has  amassed  fortunes,  build elaborate  places  for  her  members  to  gather  for  entertainment  and  the  promotion  of programs and doctrines squeezed from selected Bible verses. She sings “Oh how I love Jesus”, the servant of all, with a silver and gold cross, with inlaid diamonds, around her neck. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” has taken wings and soared to the skies in a Lear Jet bound, not for a cabin or leper colony, but a mansion on a hilltop or a Pent House. As  the  war  for  souls  wages,  and  as  the  enemy,  Satan,  seems  to  be  gaining  ground; soldiers  of  Christ  have  abandoned  the  battleship  and  taken  up  passage  on  the  cruise ship.  Instead  of  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  she  is  burping  from  an over-indulgence of the delicacies of the world. Her mantra has survived from a rebuked ancestor,  who  dared  to  say  when  rebuked  by  Jesus,  “We  have  need  of  nothing.”  Nail scarred hands have been replaced by manicured handstand stainless gloves; instead of serving hands that wash dirty feet, they are waiting to be served.

Instead of killing the fatted calf to celebrate the prodigals return home to his father; the fatted calf has been reserved to celebrate the meeting of a budget or some other self-imposed goal. As the old farmer said, “We ain't doing what that Bible teaches.”

A movement inherited from ancestors, we claim,in the first century who conquered the world or her knees with the spread of the gospel (cf. Colossians 1:23), is now being conquered by members who are on pews who rarely pray. Indifference is draining her power. A church without power can’t win a spiritual battle As the church limps or rides her power scooter deeper into the 21 st century she has a number of obvious needs; that if not met may well lead to lights out and locked doors, as she is lowered in her casket in the graveyard of dead congregations. She needs a wake up call. She needs to hear and proclaim the gospel, which is the only power that can save a lost person (cf. Romans 1:14-17). Sin needs to be presented not as a social malfunction or disease, but as a cancer of the soul that keeps  people out of heaven. Hell needs to be presented as hot and eternity long; and once there it is final—all hope is left behind. The church needs to leave “Broadway” for the “straight and narrow way”. 

The church needs leaders, at all levels, who have fire in their bones for God and His word (Jeremiah 20:9). Business meetings need to be  turned into prayer meetings. She needs  to  quit  arguing  about  the  size,  color  and  placement  of  deck  chairs  while  the Titanic  sinks;  she  needs  to  throw  out  the  lifeline.  She  needs  to  quit  training  soldiers how  to  manage  the  fort  and  train  them  for  spiritual warfare  out  in  the  world  (cf.  2 Timothy 2:1-3; 1 John 5:19). 

The  church  needs  to  be  driven  not  by  slick  adds  from  Wall  Street,  but  by  the mandates of the Holy Spirit contained in the Bible; God’s inspired word (cf. 2 Timothy 3:15-17). It is people who Jesus died for (cf. Matthew 26:28), not programs or agendas created  by  some  marketing  expert.  Christ  left  heaven,  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve (Mark 10:45).

Perhaps more than anything else the church needs to restore her prayer power. The prayer  power  that  moved  the  first  century  Christians  to  boldly  take  the  gospel  to  a hostile  world  (Acts  4:11-13).  Our  spiritual  ancestors  didn’t  tack  on  a  few  minutes  of prayer, as we are prone to do in our tight schedules. Prayer wasn’t a token exercise or part of a prescribed time-line in their services. In one of our favourite passages, Acts 2:42, we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer.” They CONTINUED!  It wasn’t a rare thing. A reading of Acts reveals prayer is mentioned in one way or another approximately 30 times. To say prayer is a Bible subject would be an understatement. Prayer is mentioned in one way or another approximately 650 times in the Bible. Prayer is demonstrated more than  200  times  in  the  Bible.  When  did  prayer  become a  neglected  subject  relative  to obeying  Paul’s  command  to  “Pray  without  ceasing”?  Whatever  happened  to  Midweek Prayer Services? They are now a footnote in church history.

Can you imagine what would happen if the sermon was reduced to five or ten minutes in the Sunday morning and Sunday night services? What would the reaction be if prayer was  given  30  to  45  minutes  in  the  services.  It  is  interesting  that  we  have  mega commands and examples of prayer and only a few related to preaching. No, I am not suggestions that we give less time to preaching; just more time to prayer.

What if we stopped our “deep theological” discussions about the “real meaning” of 1 Thessalonians  5;17—“Don’t  stop  praying”—and  actually  made  it  a  pattern  of  our  lives; what do you suppose would happen?

Where do we start? Perhaps the place to begin  is with that familiar passage in Luke 11:1: “Now it came to pass, as he was praying in a  certain place, when He ceased, that one  of  His  disciples  said  to  Him,  ‘Lord,  teach  us  to  pray,  as  John  also  taught  his disciples”.  We  need  to  be  taught  how  to  pray!  We  need  to  study  prayer  and  practice prayer  in  the  church  meetings  and  in  our  homes  and  personal  lives.  Prayer  is  a demonstration of our faith, character, and trust in God. It is our response of love to His love toward us.

We  need  to  intentionally  examine  our  present  emphasis  on  prayer.  Since  the  Bible has so much to say about it, we, too, need to be saying a lot about it, but more than that; we need to be practicing it more. Let’s pray! Not, “Shall we pray?” which someone may say no to, but “Let’s pray!”

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J.J. Turner is the author of Prayers To The Father Never Go Unanswered. Order from my website: Amazon tab.

The imprint on our coins say,  IN GOD WE TRUST. Do we really? How about when it comes to prayer; do we trust God to answer prayer?  Does the frequency of our prayers, as  well  as  the  subjects  of  our  prayers,  demonstrates  that  we  trust Him to answer our prayers? It may surprise you to hear that some who  profess to be Christians doubt that God answers prayer. This helps to explains why some do not pray. Why pray to God if you don’t believe He can and does answer prayer? When we make a deposit in a bank we do so with the confidence that it is insured by the FDIC. When we make a prayer deposit in heaven we can do so with the assures that it is insured by the FIH: The Father in Heaven.

REASONS TO TRUST GOD TO ANSWER EVERY PRAYER

There are many truths documented in the Bible that  provide valid reasons for trusting God to answer our prayers. This of course is based  on the assumption that you believe the Word of God—Holy Bible—is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Here are some basic reasons to trust God to answer prayer:

• God is able to answer prayer:  Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly  above  all  that  we  ASK  or  THINK,  according  to  the  power  that works  in  us  (Ephesians  3:20). God  is  able  to  handle  any  request  you  make  in prayer, but according to His will, not ours. Think  with me for a moment about what God is doing right now in the universe. He is maintaining the rotation of the earth on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour. The earth is moving around the sun at a speed  of  approximately  67,000  miles  per  hour.  Today as  a  resident  of  planet earth  you  have  travelled  1.5  million  miles  through  space.  For  some  reason  we never worry about God’s ability to handle these taken for granted tasks, but when it comes to prayer we aren’t sure He is up to the task. God can handle any prayer requests—big or small.
• God  has  the  resources  to  answer  prayer:  The  Mighty  One,  God  the  Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of  the sun to the going down… For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine… Call upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble;  I  will  deliver  you,  and  you  shall  glorify  Me (Psalm 50:1, 10, 11,15).God owns everything in heaven and in earth. He created everything (cf. Genesis 1-3). All the silver and gold belong to Him. •  God  knows  what  we  need  and  is  able  to  supply  it:  Therefore  do  not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For all these things the Gentiles seek. For  your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things (Matthew 6:31, 32).Not only does our heavenly Father  know  we  have  needs,  He  will  supply  those  needs:  And  my  God  shall supply  all   your  needs  according  to  His  riches  in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus (Philippians 4:19).If God can design a dragon fly so unique that NASAcannot duplicate  its  flight  patterns,  He  can  design  a  prayer  system  to  meet  our  needs when  we  ask. Isn’t it amazing that baby zebras recognize their mothers by the positioning of their stripes; and no two sets of stripes are the same. Yes, we can trust God to answer our prayers. He is aware of those needs; we just need to ask.
• God  can  be  trusted  to  answer  our  prayers  because  He  loves  us: For God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might  be  saved  (John  3:16, 17).  The apostle Paul adds this truth to how much God loves us:  But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were  still  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us  (Romans  5:8). How  can  we  not  trust  the Father who gave His only Son to answer our prayers?He can be trusted totally.
• God  can  be  trusted  to  answer  prayer  because  He  does  what  He promises: Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You…. I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me (Psalm 57:1, 2).  Jeremiah reminds us that God performs what He promises: And the  land  will  tremble  and  sorrow;  for  every  purpose of  the  Lord  shall  be performed against Babylon  (Jeremiah 50:29). God is not fickle like we are, we can trust that He will not change:  For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed (Malachi 3:6). •  God can be trusted to answer prayer because Jesus died  in order to be  the  Mediator  when  we  pray  to  the Father: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time  (1  Timothy  2:5,  6). Why  would  the heavenly Father sacrifice His only Son to be a Mediator between us and Himself and then not answer our prayers? Jesus is our “Lawyer” in heaven; He pleads our case  and  represents  us  honestly,  because  He  is  our  High  Priest  and  has  been tested in all points like we have (Hebrews 4:14, 15).
• God  can  be  trusted  to  answer  prayer  because  He  has  assigned  the Holy  Spirit  to  be  the  interpreter  in  cases  where  we are at a loss for words:  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).Most of us have had those times when we're searching for words to articulate our prayers to the Father and reached a point of frustration or stalling; this is where Paul says the Holy Spirit interprets our “groaning” to our Father. If God doesn’t answer prayer why has He assigned the Holy Spirit this task?
• God can be trusted to answer prayer because He cannot lie:  God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has he said, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it (Numbers 23:19, 20).Prayer is mentioned more  than  600  times  in  the  Bible,  with  approximately  200  examples  of  actual prayers  recorded  in  the  Bible.  If  God  doesn’t  answer  prayer,  He has lied to us, which we know could not be true. God is truth! Therefore, He cannot lie. Don’t stop praying; God is waiting to answer.
• God’s ways are far about ours; He knows what’s best for us:  Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near…. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,  says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:6, 8, 9).  Most of the time we have our minds made up that we know what is best for us,but God doesn’t think like we do and therefore gives us what is best in answer to our prayers.
• God has a perfect disposition that continuously listens to our prayers and answers according to His will:  I love the Lord, because He has heard my  voice  and  my  supplications.  Because  He  has  inclined  His  ear  to  me, therefore I will call Him as long as I live (Psalm  116:1,2).As a mother’s ears are always  tuned  and  alert  to  the  sound  of  her  baby’s  voice,  God’s  ears  are  always open to hear the voice of his children.

These  are  only  ten  reasons  why  we  can  trust  our  heavenly  Father  to  answer  our prayers; there are many more. Our prayer relates to four major factors:

1. Belief that God is
2. Belief that God is listening
3. Belief that God answers prayer
4. Belief that God is listening and waiting for our prayers Therefore, don’t stop praying; the answer is coming. Revisit this site from time to time for additional helps and teachings on prayer.