Power of Prayer?

Did you see this?

Largest Study of Prayer to Date Finds It Has No Power to Heal
Los Angeles Times, CA

"The largest study yet on the therapeutic power of prayer by strangers has found that it provided no benefit to the recovery of patients who had undergone cardiac bypass surgery."
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"I am always a little leery about intercessory prayer," said Marek, director of chaplain services at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.


Maybe the problem is that they are trying to put God in a box and He didn't want to participate in their study. A couple different verses come to mind:

Matthew 4:7
"7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test."(NIV)


James 5:13-15
"13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."(KJV)


1 Thessalonians 5:17
"17Pray without ceasing."



Who are you going to listen to?

Joshua 24:15
" 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Are we there yet?

Over the last few weeks, the headlines in the news has been very troubling. Crime seems rampant. It's not just in the big cities anymore, it's every where. I live in the Middle TN area and over the past 6 months to a year things seem to be getting out of control. Maybe it's been that way for a while and I'm just now noticing it but with 2 Timothy 3:1 in mind, it has me asking the question, "Are we there yet?".



2Timothy 3:1-7
"1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Recent News Headlines:
Man Opens Fire in Downtown of S.C. City AP - Wed Mar 29, 10:54 PM ET

Ill. Man Testifies in Children's Drownings AP - Wed Mar 29, 2:18 PM ET

Three Students Indicted for Church Fires AP - Wed Mar 29, 11:11 PM ET

Police disclose no motive for wife accused of killing pastor USA Today - Mar 27, 2006

Gunman kills six, self in Seattle home USA Today - Mar 26, 2006

Obviously, there are thousands more examples of news headlines similar to these but you get the point. "In the last days perilous times shall come.....", surely we are living in the last days.

Matthew 24:12
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."

*sigh*

I wish I were filled to overflowing by God's Holy Spirit that I might make a difference in the world around me. Please dear Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I might be holy, that I might love You with my whole heart, that I might be led in Your ways, that I might resist temptation, that I might submit all my ways to You, that I might love those around me the way You love them. Please forgive me of my sins, please cleanse my heart, plase wash me thoroughly that I might be clean. Please use me...........for Your glory.

News Quotes

Do you find that quotes in news articles (at times) overstate the obvious?

Examples:

SEATTLE, March 27, 2006
"It's never been like him to snap," a friend is quoted as saying of Kyle Huff who apparently returned to a party he had attended, armed with a shotgun and killed 6 people, injured 2 others, before turning the gun on himself.

If the definition of snapping is going on a killing spree, I would think and hope not.


SELMER, Tenn. Mar 24, 2006 (AP)
"We've known from the beginning that she was either a suspect or a victim," said Jennifer Johnson, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Would seem she would have to be either a suspect or victim until she was found and the truth determined.