Last week the New York Times reported that recent research has concluded that more Americans are praying about their health.
According to the report, scientists analyzed data on 30,080 adults ages 18 and older who took part in the National Health Interview Survey in 2002 and on 22,306 adults who participated in 2007. Forty-nine percent of adults said in 2007 that they had prayed about their health during the previous year, up from 43 percent in 2002. The full article, which appeared in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality is available at this link – Praying and Health.
God, man’s creator, inspired men to write the books of the Bible so that we can have instructions on how to live life. It includes many, many examples of people who prayed in times of distress and trouble, including sickness and poor health.
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint. Old Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. Psalm 6:2
My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I grown in anguish of heart…. Come quickly to help me, old Lord my Savior. Psalm 38:7,8 and 22
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:17
Then they cried out to Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. Psalm 107:28
Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord were heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. Deuteronomy 26:7
The research indicates that more people are praying about their health but the data show only the frequency of prayers, not the nature of the prayers or who the prayers were made to. The Bible is full of guidance that indicates we are to pray to the Lord God, our Creator.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18
God is their refuge and strength, and ever present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
Be thankful that you have a Creator, the Lord our God, who cares about you and hears you when you cry out to him – even during your times of sickness and poor health.
