Intercessory Prayer - Essay Example

Even taking medicine and not having faith that one will be healed, does not help. Most of the researches that indicate positive links between prayer and health is situated in areas that possess strong Christian customs (Paul, 2008). Prayer is a coping action that mediates between religious faith and health and can take different forms. Devotional prayers involving a close dialogue with a compassionate God are related to enhanced optimism, health, and function. On the contrary, prayers that entail pleas for aid may, in the lack of faith, be linked with augmented distress and perhaps poor function (Kuchan, 2008).

The bible accounts instances of efficacy of prayer in healing in the book of Acts 28:8; Genesis 20:17, 18; and Numbers 12:13. People should be encouraged to engage in prayer and have faith in God who heals. In the assessment of their faith, those with no faith but who just try the effectiveness of prayer cannot be healed. Hospitalized patients who have no faith and whose prayers entail desperate supplication for help are prone to need extra support from experienced nursing and chaplaincy personnel (Kuchan, 2008).