Pastor's Message for May, 2006
Keep On Praying
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Romans 12:12
At last"”a scientific study that proves the ineffectiveness of prayer for healing illness, reported the New York Times last month in a story about a "scientifically rigorous investigation" undertaken by researchers sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation. In fact, heart patients in this study who knew they were being prayed for by strangers in three congregations fared worse in terms of post operative complications than those who did not know whether or not they were being prayed for. So"”case closed...another Christian superstition exploded by the analytical proof of scientific investigation. Right?
You don't know whether to laugh or cry when science and religion get confused about who they are and start dancing together as though they both follow the same steps (I have this picture of dancing partners"”one doing a waltz and the other a tango"”clashing and crashing into each other!). From the religion side, you get the confusion of the great theological truth of Genesis - the "who" and the "why" of things - with scientific theory as to the "how" of things, and evolution is ruled out of class as unbiblical and anti-religious. Now from the scientific side, this great confusion about the power and the purpose of prayer presupposing that the spiritual aspects of life can be quantified and examined analytically as to their efficacy. One giveaway of the confusion is exemplified in the very specific petition the congregations were asked to include in their prayers: "for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications." What sort of prayer is this? Why not begin such prayer with: "Here, O God, is my detailed agenda that I want you to follow for me...my will be done on earth as you implement it from heaven." It recalls a one-liner I saw recently: "Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors."
Now this is not to say we should not bring our petitions, our sincere requests to God; we are clearly told "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:4) This includes our prayers for healing, for ourselves or on behalf of others.
Our Presbyterian Study Catechism states, in response to Question #122, How does God respond to our prayers? "”
"God takes all our prayers into account, weighing them with divine wisdom, and responding to them by a perfect will. Although for the time being God's answers may seem beyond our understanding, or sometimes even bitter, we know nonetheless that they are always determined by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God answers our prayers, particularly for temporal blessings, only in ways that are compatible with the larger purposes of God's glory and our salvation. Communion with God is finally the answer within the answers to all our prayers."
That communion with God, which was the only real "answer" to Job's misery and to the apostle Paul's inveterate "thorn in the flesh," is the very deepest kind of healing a person could desire. In terms of prayers for healing of physical or emotional infirmity, I think it is critically important to distinguish between "cure" and "heal." The root of the word healing in New Testament Greek, is the same as that of salvation and wholeness, the deepest gift that is always available to those who pray for healing. As the United Methodist Book of Worship states:
"God does not promise that we shall be spared suffering but does promise to be with us in our suffering. Trusting that promise, we are enabled to recognize God's sustaining presence in pain, sickness, injury, and estrangement... Likewise, God does not promise that we will be cured of all illnesses; and we all must face the inevitability of death."
Sometimes, as I have seen in my years of ministry and as you may have seen or heard about, the prayer for healing appears to be a factor in a person's physical cure, and on occasion the physical restoration seems to be nothing short of miraculous. In many other instances, prayers for healing do not result in a "cure" of the illness or infirmity, but in drawing a person closer to the healing love of God, may enhance his or her spiritual health and open the way to the greatest healing of knowing God's presence amid life's misfortune and suffering.
About six times a year, we offer healing and wholeness services at Dutch Neck with anointing with oil for one's self or on behalf of another. Such healing services are not magic, and the healing ministry of the church in no way detracts from the gifts God gives through medicine and psychotherapy. Anointing with oil rather is a sign invoking the healing love of God.
We will also continue to offer prayers of intercession for the sick, the injured, those facing surgery - though our prayers will not be as prescriptive of the Lord as "for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications." And finally, the purpose of our prayers is to bring us to a deeper awareness of the unfailing promise:
"If we live, we live to the Lord;
and if we die, we die to the Lord;
so then, whether we live or whether we die,
we are the Lord's." (Romans 14:8)
Keep praying,
Rev. Dr. Floyd W. Churn
Pastor
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