“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Paul encouraged the Ephesian church to keep praying for one another. It’s always good to pray for ourselves, but there is something special about church people who pray for one another. When believers agree together to intercede for someone else, powerful things start happening.
San Francisco General hospital once hosted a medical research study on prayer back in 1988, which was written up in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study took 393 patients who had heart attacks, and were under the same standard of cardiac care, but separated them into two groups. Both groups continued to be treated medically, but only half of the group were regularly prayed for. It was a double blind study, where the “prayed for” group didn’t even know that they were being prayed for. Their first names were given to various prayer teams across the country, who knew nothing about the people whose names they received, but the prayer teams prayed daily for them for four straight weeks.
The prayer intercessor teams were from across the country, and came from a variety of Christian faiths. They were nondenominational, Episcopalian, Roman Catholics, Baptists and other Protestant groups. The prayer intercessors were ordinary people who regularly attended church and had long established habits of daily prayer.
After four weeks, the group of patients who were being prayed for, had 3 times less complications and a significantly higher survival rate than the group that was not prayed for. The study results suggested that remote, intercessory prayer along with standard medical treatment yields the best outcome.
I used to think that being prayed for in person brought the best results, but this study proved that praying for people we may never see, is equally as powerful as for those we do see. After reading about this prayer study, I have a whole new respect for prayers offered remotely, through prayer lists, whether a prayer list is in a church, a TV or radio station, or a faith based prayer or Bible study group. Paul told the Ephesians to pray for all kinds of requests, on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers, which covers it all.
Maybe it should be a priority to add names to prayer lists wherever they may be, and never underestimate the power of remote, intercessory prayer made on behalf of others.
Lord, deepen our faith to trust that you read every name on every prayer list, and help us to trust the power of remote prayer for all requests, on all occasions, with all types of prayer. Amen
