showed that intercessory prayer had no effect on reducing complications for recovering cardiac patients. However, praying for the health of loved ones is an integral part of many people's spiritual lives. Below are just a few stories from Beliefnet readers.
Has intercessory prayer (praying for someone else's health, or someone else praying for yours) ever "worked" for you?
Liver Transplant Survivor
Three years ago our daughter had liver failure. I remembered reading in the Bible where Christ said if two or more people prayed to him for the same thing that his father in heaven (God) would answer that prayer. My wife and I prayed for her every day in the hospital chapel and anywhere we could be alone. I also sent email to everyone I knew and asked them to pray for her. She received a liver transplant and is healthy today. She was married three years ago and has a 22-month-old healthy son.
'It Is Always God's Will'
Most dramatic was when I received a complete healing of a heart condition,
given one year to live at 18 (now 55). God Heals! As a pastor, one Sunday I prayed for a blind man who had been blind since birth (40 years) and his sight was completely restored! However, I have also had people pass on to the Lord as I pray for them in my arms proving it is always God's will and NOT ours being done!
'Sometimes the Answer Is No'
I prayed for emotional support for a friend on the Internet, I received a feeling that the support and relief of stress was to occur within the hour. I told the friend, and within the hour she received attention from another friend that provided support and stress relief… The "answers" are not always what I envision because I don't always have the Goddess's view. But there is always an answer. Remember, sometimes the answer is No.
Near Death From E-Coli
I had a severe case of E-Coli poisoning 4 years ago. My whole system had become septic and the doctors weren't sure if I would make it --and if I did survive, there would be a high probability of organ damage (a kidney dialysis machine was "at the ready" just outside my room). I was on massive doses of I.V. antibiotics that did not seem to be working. I was delirious, slipping in and out of consciousness. At a lucid moment during the ordeal, my doctors told me at one point to "fight hard for my life." I realized that I needed help beyond this world and could not win the battle alone. I asked God to heal me so that I could continue to do His work on earth. I also asked my wife to have members of our church pray for me. At that point I was a born-again Christian for about a year and a half, with a fervent passion for the Lord. Miraculously after asking for God's help, I began to recover over the next 48 hours and was released from the hospital. I had about a year of recovery with opportunistic infections, but no organ damage whatsoever and I'm 99% back to where I was before the infection. My doctors said they have never seen such a severe case of E. Coli poisoning with no long term organ/ internal damage or other serious side effects.
'I Prayed Desperately for God's Help'
There are also times when I have experienced a deeply meaningful, even mystical Moving ,presence in my life. A recent example was during a time of extreme stress and interpersonal problems at college. It felt like some of my closest friendships and a romantic relationship were about to fall apart, on the eve of a big project which was due and I was at the end of my rope. I prayed desperately for God's help, somehow, and stumbled outside to the woods behind my dorm, and a deer, an animal of personal meaning to me for a variety of reasons, just came very close to me, at the edge of the clearing and stood there watching me, for at least 15-20 minutes. It was deeply moving, and an experience I have shared with no other, but I returned to my room with a deep sense of peace and providence, and strength to get through that night.
Breast Cancer Survivor
Last year after all the tests were back in, my Dr. told me I had breast cancer. So I went home and me and my husband prayed and so did my church. I went in for the surgery to have the lump removed and when the test came back no cancer. The doctors could not believe this. They even made me have more tests done because they were so sure I had cancer. But you see I know my Lord Jesus Christ and he healed my body.
