Mystical Angels

Healing by means of prayer and meditation?

I have met a number of people from all religious backgrounds who have sincerely told me their life stories about how they suffered from mild to life threatening diseases and when all forms of medication and doctors failed them , or due to poverty when they were unable to consult a doctor or get any treatment , how their faith in God , prayer and Meditation made them well or reduced the severity of the illness they suffered from. I know many of you sceptics here will laugh at it and use everything under the sun to debunk such views, but instead of laughing at them dont you think that you must be happy that they have got well and now have a chance of enjoying life again? A leading surgeon once told me that now medical science while developing new drugs and medical tests are also doing what they can to encourage people with illnesses to develop some spiritual , philosophical as well as meditative approach towards their lives while seeking medical treatment. wot do you say to that? wind, I have met amputees who told me that they have learned to walk on crutches and even on wheel chairs wot do you say to that?

Public Comments

1. Of course it's great that they got better. But I'd tend to think of the millions of others who pray and don't. Because they can't tell there stories obviously, right? You're only gonna hear about the stories where people prayed and got better. Meditation can be affective in recovery, spirituality (if you're inclined to believe) does no harm, however I happened to watch a documentary with good ol' Richard Dawkins showing all the different measures people will go to when they're ill in searching out 'new age cures' And quite simply, the ill were being exploited by false promises. Anything to do with meditation, relaxation etc, fine. Anything to do with spirituality should be viewed with skepticism in my eyes. If you're interested the documentary was called 'The enemies of reason' and is on youtube. It doesn't challenge religious belief, just the credibility of the more 'New age' spiritual practices.
2. "god gives us illness and he can give is the heal" but he wont do that always... depends on a lot of different things
3. Miracles only exist in regions where people believe in miracles. Fundies often tell you about personal miracles, but have you ever heard of God healing an amputee? The Jame Randi foundation has for a while now offered $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate anything paranormal. Tell you friends to go collect there reward money.
4. I have heard the stories too and even met people. There is a guy in our church who the doctors had given up for dead. But we didn't give up hope. We- the whole church- prayed for him and at his side in the hospital. Now he is out and back in church with us. Remember, the doctors had written him off. "Get your affairs in order," one of them said. If you look around in the alternative healing world, you will find the concept of energy healing in almost every culture. The most well-known form is Reiki from Japan. If you take away the names, it is very similar to the Christian "laying on of hands." The Native Americans would put a very ill person in the middle of a drumming circle. The theme of calling down a spiritual power to heal runs through these and many other methods. Usually when you find something so universally practiced, there is something real to it. Doctors will tell you the attitude of the patient has a material impact on the course of the disease. The mind-body connection is there. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
5. Have you ever had a minor cut or a scratch, or even just a sniffle or a sore throat ? Probably yes. We all have. Often we don't even think about such things very much. We just put some iodine on the scratch and a band aid. After a while it simply heals itself. The fact is that God Himself is constantly healing and renewing all living creatures way down in their very cellular structures. We take it for granted. Too often. So when someone has an illness that is somewhat more severe than just a minor cut we do pay attention to that. Because the pain and the need to see a doctor forces us to consciously acknowledge it. Suppose then the person prayed and subsequently was healed. Does that mean the healing was any more miraculous than the apparent self-healing of a minor scratch. Absolutely not. It is not a question of HOW it was healed at all. It is simply the healing of God (again) but on a level that is much more noticeable. And therefore we also acknowledge it more. But the problem is one of our (human) thinking. We should always be thanking and acknowledging God's biological healings even on the most common and mundane levels. But we don't. We are always looking for something spectacular to get excited about. And so because we are looking, we find what we are looking for. Acts 17:28