Many news outlets are reporting on a study by Harvard Medical School on the effects of prayer on cardiac bypass patients.
Known as STEP (Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer), it investigated patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, wherein a vein is grafted into the heart to bypass clogged blood vessels. According to the STEP report, 350,000 people in the United States and 800,000 people worldwide have such grafts each year, making it one of the most common surgical procedures.
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The 1,802 participants were divided into three groups of about 600 each, with a mean age of 64 years. One group received no prayers. A second group received prayers after being told that they may or may not be prayed for. Members of the third group were informed that others would pray for them for 14 days starting on the night before their surgery.
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In total, complications occurred in 59 percent of those who were prayed for, compared with 51 percent of those who received no prayers, a significant difference.
Deaths during the 30 days after surgery were similar across groups, 13 and 16 in the prayed-for group, 14 in the no-prayer group. […]
I find myself intrigued by these types of studies. Having said that, in the interest of trying not to alienate readers who may be religious nor readers who may be agnostic or atheistic, I think I’ll refrain from saying much more. All the same, if you want to know my thoughts on this, feel free to ask me in real life.