Prayer alone heals mental illness?

[Luddly Neddite]

Prayer Alone Heals Mental Illness, Say One Third Of Americans In LifeWay Research Poll

A recent study by LifeWay Research has found that a "third of Americans – and nearly half of evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians – believe prayer and Bible study alone can overcome serious mental illness."

 

[Alfalfa]

Doesn't pass the smell test, the numbers don't add up. It appears this poll was heavily oversampled with the saved and devout.

I'm shocked that a christian organization would put out a bogus poll.

 

[MHunterB]

I wonder how they explain the mechanism by which prayer alone corrects the chemical imbalances which underlie some of the most prevalent mental illnesses: bipolar disorder, clinical depression, schizophrenia?

While 'prayer alone' might possible help a person 're-integrate' from DID (what used to be called 'multiple personalities') - I can't see that working unless all the fractional selves were religious.

Prayer certainly could help with character flaws like a 'hot temper' or other behavior which can be modified.

Of course, I believe that ALL study and learning is 'of GOD' since He created all that we study. So I see medical research into brain chemistry as 'divinely inspired' .....

I seem to recall that one-third of our fellow citizens couldn't correctly date the Civil War, or identify the 'Allies' and 'Axis' of WW2 - so if a similar percentage of 'em are so uninformed about mental illness and look to prayer instead of medical research for the treatment, it's really not surprising.

Yes, it's depressing. All those people nagging and pestering GOD to do something for the which He's already provided for : (( Like a child starving in a field because they don't recognize a tomato on the vine as food : ((

 

[MHunterB]

One also wonders what the study considered as 'serious mental illness'...... without any specs on that phrase, the study is pretty well worthless.

Proper research technique requires the 'field' of what is/isn't included as 'mental illness' be clearly defined, usually by giving specific examples.

 

[jwoodie]

Objectively, religion is a subset of psychology.

 

[loa]

I pray a lot. Yet I would never suggest to someone they stop taking their medication and rely on prayer alone to relieve chemical imbalance or other health issues. I wouldn't define that stance as a faith issue, either.

God gave us both heart and mind. There is nothing wrong with using the mind to solve problems, so there is nothing wrong with using what medical care can give us.

Yet I would still continue to pray for someone - in a very holistic sense, there are many things an ill person needs and I can't see how the prayer would 'harm'.

K.

 

[Chuckt]

Objectively, religion is a subset of psychology.

I think psychology branched off from philosophy. Religion came from neither because it isn't a study.

 

[loa]

ChuckT said:
I think psychology branched off from philosophy. Religion came from neither because it isn't a study.

Loa grabs her notebook and licks the tip of her pencil - Ok, ChuckT gets 2 pts for catching THAT one.

K.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Even for Christians to believe this boggles my mind.

Something about faith without works is dead. . . something like that. Sound familiar?

 

[BreezeWood]

Prayer alone heals mental illness ...


they only wish it so and would rather not know.

.

 

[Politico]

Doesn't pass the smell test, the numbers don't add up. It appears this poll was heavily oversampled with the saved and devout.

I'm shocked that a christian organization would put out a bogus poll.

Agreed. 3/4 of people are nuts not 1/3.

 

[editec]

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[Chuckt]

Even for Christians to believe this boggles my mind.

Something about faith without works is dead. . . something like that. Sound familiar?

That's what you think it means.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Even for Christians to believe this boggles my mind.

Something about faith without works is dead. . . something like that. Sound familiar?

That's what you think it means.

It is what I think it means. Me and probably 6 or 8 different pastors and preacher types I spoke with while growing up. Especially from an agnostic viewpoint, it seems logical in that any religion would preach this. That way if the prayer failed, you could tell your follower they need to do more on their own before God'll wanna help 'em out.

Plus, if I was God I'd be a lot more apt to answer the prayers of those who actually tried to find their own way than those who sat back, asked me for shit, and ate Cheetos while watching the 700 Club.

 

[Moonglow]

I wonder how they explain the mechanism by which prayer alone corrects the chemical imbalances which underlie some of the most prevalent mental illnesses: bipolar disorder, clinical depression, schizophrenia?

They claim it to be a message from God. Moses and the non-consuming bush.
Teen Jew girl gets pregnant out of wedlock, etc, etc, ......

 

[Moonglow]

Even for Christians to believe this boggles my mind.

Something about faith without works is dead. . . something like that. Sound familiar?

That's what you think it means.

It is what I think it means. Me and probably 6 or 8 different pastors and preacher types I spoke with while growing up. Especially from an agnostic viewpoint, it seems logical in that any religion would preach this. That way if the prayer failed, you could tell your follower they need to do more on their own before God'll wanna help 'em out.

Plus, if I was God I'd be a lot more apt to answer the prayers of those who actually tried to find their own way than those who sat back, asked me for shit, and ate Cheetos while watching the 700 Club.

What is really ludicrous is that Jesus told people how to pray and where to pray.
He told them to pray in a place that allows you to speak to God alone, not at a school football game where they pray to crush their opponents, just like in the military.
Jesus said to recite the Lord's Prayer, not ask him for an Ipod.

 

[Chuckt]

Even for Christians to believe this boggles my mind.

Something about faith without works is dead. . . something like that. Sound familiar?

That's what you think it means.

It is what I think it means. Me and probably 6 or 8 different pastors and preacher types I spoke with while growing up. Especially from an agnostic viewpoint, it seems logical in that any religion would preach this. That way if the prayer failed, you could tell your follower they need to do more on their own before God'll wanna help 'em out.

Plus, if I was God I'd be a lot more apt to answer the prayers of those who actually tried to find their own way than those who sat back, asked me for shit, and ate Cheetos while watching the 700 Club.

And how much studying did they do?

I have the Key Word Study Bible by Spiros Zohodiates and he wrote "The Complete Word Study Dictionary". I have Mounce's Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament. I have Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament. I have Kittle's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament and Vine's Expository Dictionary of the New Testament and Vine's Commentaries. I have Kenneth Weust's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament.

I spent a couple of years studying the verse and that is what people think it means.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

That's what you think it means.

It is what I think it means. Me and probably 6 or 8 different pastors and preacher types I spoke with while growing up. Especially from an agnostic viewpoint, it seems logical in that any religion would preach this. That way if the prayer failed, you could tell your follower they need to do more on their own before God'll wanna help 'em out.

Plus, if I was God I'd be a lot more apt to answer the prayers of those who actually tried to find their own way than those who sat back, asked me for shit, and ate Cheetos while watching the 700 Club.

And how much studying did they do?

I have the Key Word Study Bible by Spiros Zohodiates and he wrote "The Complete Word Study Dictionary". I have Mounce's Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament. I have Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament. I have Kittle's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament and Vine's Expository Dictionary of the New Testament and Vine's Commentaries. I have Kenneth Weust's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament.

I spent a couple of years studying the verse and that is what people think it means.

Hang on, lemme check the bibliographies from the conversations I had while growing up.

 

[Chuckt]

I spent a couple of years studying the verse and that is what people think it means.

Hang on, lemme check the bibliographies from the conversations I had while growing up.

It is kind of like this. Most people that go to church on Sunday learn two verses of the Bible if that anymore. Lets assume for the sake of argument that there are 31,102 verses. That would take you 15,551 Sundays to learn the Bible assuming that all verses would be covered. If we divide 15,551 by 52 weeks, you would get about 299.05769 years to learn the Bible. Trying to convince me of your Bibliographies or pastor's education means nothing if you don't cover more ground or as you would quote the Bible, your faith without works (study) is dead. hehehe

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

I spent a couple of years studying the verse and that is what people think it means.

Hang on, lemme check the bibliographies from the conversations I had while growing up.

It is kind of like this. Most people that go to church on Sunday learn two verses of the Bible if that anymore. Lets assume for the sake of argument that there are 31,102 verses. That would take you 15,551 Sundays to learn the Bible assuming that all verses would be covered. If we divide 15,551 by 52 weeks, you would get about 299.05769 years to learn the Bible. Trying to convince me of your Bibliographies or pastor's education means nothing if you don't cover more ground or as you would quote the Bible, your faith without works (study) is dead. hehehe

Who's trying to convince you that study means nothing?

All I'm saying is that when I specified, "while I was growing up", I was referring to my childhood and teenage years. I'm now over 30. When you were a kid and you were talking to your religious leaders, did you have them cite their references? Have you ever stopped trying to practice a religion for about 16 years? If you ever go that route, lemme know if you still keep your notebooks from bible study handy all those years later.

I ain't tryna convince you of shit, I'm just pointing out that the likelihood of someone pulling that info out of their childhood is unlikely to the point of silliness.

Study is absolutely critical to knowing any topic inside and out, I just couldn't tell you how well read my old pastors were.

And, just to note, it'd be more likely that my works were worthless, as faith is where I lack.

To date, however, I get a pretty f'in good return on works without faith