Posted on 06/14/2005 9:53:14 AM PDT by TBP
Because the universe is an energy system and has an inherent order, there is always a response to prayer. This is not belief, supposition, or simply wishful teaching. Prayer has been extensively studied and proven in double- and triple-blind studies. Prayer is energy, and has definite action observable in the external consensual world.
There are numerous reference materials on this fascinating subject. Dr. Harold Koenig, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University and the country's leading authority on faith-and-medicine studies, performed academic research that shows that prayer has beneficial health effects, primarily for the person who does the praying. Studies of prayers in which a person prays for his or her own health or peace of mind show tangible statistical results.
In recent years, the scientific and medical communities have become increasingly interested in the relationship between prayer and healing. Many medical schools now offer specific courses in spirituality or are incorporating the theme into the curriculum. By some estimates, over 350 prayer studies have already been conducted to date in the United States alone.
Unity, a worldwide spiritual resource affiliated with more than 900 churches, recently announced an initiative that will help bring together science and spirituality. Unity President Tom Zender unveiled the Office of Prayer Research to an international gathering from 80 countries during the Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona.
Dr. Mitch Krucoff, of Duke University Medical Center, and Dr. Jeffrey Dusek, of Harvard Medical School, participated in the presentation where the announcement was made. Krucoff is renowned for his writings and research on spirituality and medicine and was the principal investigator of Duke's groundbreaking MANTRA prayer study. The MANTRA study was important because, of all patients tested, the lowest absolute patient complications were observed in patients assigned to offsite prayer. These results were significant enough to indicate that further study was needed. Dusek was the principal researcher of Harvard's Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayers (STEP).
The mission of the Office of Prayer Research is the advance of scientific research on the effects of prayer and to serve as a conduit for the exchange of information coming from the scores of prayer studies scientists conduct each year in the U.S. and throughout the world.
I AM Spirit online magazine will provide updates of these and other studies and reports on this relevant subject. We invite you to share your own experiences of prayer in action.
How does one get a job with this office?
I know your suggestion is a bit facetious, but actually, it's not a bad idea.
I believe this article as far as metrics is talking about prayers effect on the pray-er. I think there's likely possibility of some measurements possible on this activity. But, jokes aside, I can't see anyone becoming religious - or choosing which - based on it.
and good luck with the atheist prayer..
You can lead an Athiest to Church, but you cannot make them pray. ;)
The Athiest would have to be one of the "control" groups.
Aha, there is one for atheist. Google is my friend:
The Atheist's Prayer
Our Nothing, which art Nowhere, give us this day our daily bread, and deliver us from:
Abbots and Abbesses, Acolytes, Amish, Anabaptists, Angels, Anglicans, Animists, Anthems, Anthropomorphists, Apocalypses, Appolinarianists, Archbishops, Archdeacons, Archimandrites, Augustinians, Ayatollahs, Bahaists, Baptists, Benedictines, Bibles, Bishops including Bishops of Rome, Blackfriars, Bonzes, Brahmism and Brahmists, Buddhism and Buddhists, Calvinists, Canon Laws, Canons, Canticles, Cargo Cultists, Carmelites, Carthusians, Catholics, Chaplains, Chorales, Christadelphians, Christian Scientists, Christmas, Carmelites, Choristers, Church Bell Ringers, Churches, Church Organists, Churchwardens, Cistercians, Commandments, Complines, Conclaves, Confucianism and Confucianists, Consistories, Copts, Credos, Creeds, Crucifers, Crusaders and Crusades, Cults, Curates, Curia, Deacons and Deaconesses, Deans, Decalogues, Dominicans, Doxologies, Dukhobors, Encyclicals, Epiphanies, Epistles, Evangelists, Exclusive Brethren, Existentialists, Exorcists, Franciscans, Friars, Fundamentalists, Gnostics, Gods and Goddesses, Gospels, Graces, Greyfriars, High Masses, Hindus and Hinduism, Holy Days, Holy Fathers, Holy Ghosts, Holy Joes, Holy Rollers, Holy Wars, Hymns, Imams, Inquisitions, Introits, Islam and Islamic Fundamentalists, Jacobins, Jains, Jehovah's Witnesses, (especially Jehovah's Witnesses!), Jesuits, Jihads, Judaism, Kingdom Halls, Korans, Kyrie Eleisons, Lamas, Lampadaries, Latter Day Saints, Lauds, Litanies, Liturgies, Lutherans, Masses, Matins, Medicine Men, Mennonites, Messiahs, Methodists, Metropolitans, Ministers, Moderators, Monotheists, Monsignors, Mosques, Moonies, Mormons, Moslems, Muezzins, Mystics, Nones, Novenae, Nuncios, Ordinands, Orisons, Padres, Pantheists, Papal Bulls, Parsees, Parsons, Pastors, Patriarchs, Pentecostalists, Plymouth Brethren, Polytheists, Pontifexes, Pontiffs, Popes, Prayers, Prebendaries, Precentors, Prelates, Presbyterians, Presbyters, Priests, Primates (non-animal), Primes, Priors, Proctors, Protestants, Psalms, Puritans, Quakers, Rabbis, Rastafarians, Rectors, Religious Tracts, Requiems, Responses, Rural Deans, Sacraments, Sacristans, Saint's Days, Saints, Salvationists, Satanists, Scientologists, Scriptures, Sects, Sermons, Seventh Day Adventists, Sextons, Sexts, Shakers, Shamen, Shia Moslems, Sidesmen, Sikhs and Sikhism, Sky Pilots, Sons (and possibly Daughters) of God, Suffragans, Sunday Schools, Sunni Moslems, Synagogues, Synods, Tabernacles, Taoists, Temples, Theocrats, Theologians, Theosophists, Theriomorphists, Tierces, Tithes, Tridentine Masses, Ultramontists, Unitarians, Ushers, Venerables, Vergers, Versicles, Vesters, Vicars and Vicars of Christ, Wee Frees, Wesleyans, Whitefriars, Witchdoctors, Zen Buddhists and Zen Buddhism, Zoroastrianists and Zoroastrianism.
P.S. Don't forget the bread!
sure... like to show who is the One and Only God, Jehovah God... to the prophets of Baal. Let the fire of the Lord fall. 1 Kings 18:20-39
Heretosayit'strue bump!
How does one get a job with this office?
You'd have to write to their headquarters at Unity Village in Lee's Summit, Mo.
"Dear Whomever, please make everything scientifically correct and help everyone cope."
I look forward to seeing the positive results of these studies published in a peer reviewed journal like Science and Nature.
How does one get a job with this office?
Try contacting Unity Village in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
We coudl carry it on ESPN. It would undoubtedly be more interesting than watching other people play poker.
We could carry it on ESPN. It would undoubtedly be more interesting than watching other people play poker.
LOL. Good idea.
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