I just read a Wikipedia that “Some religions claim that praying for somebody who is sick can have positive effects.” However, Wiki says, scientific studies have “failed to produce significant findings.” (See Wikipedia on "Intercession")

Ok, I agree, prayer cannot heal anyone. Prayer, in any religion, is like a telephone. It is just a channel. You do not talk to the phone; you talk through the phone. You do not talk to prayer. You talk to someone through prayer. It is the “someone” that makes the difference.

King Ahab and all of Baal's prophets prayed to Baal to send rain. It did not rain, simply because Baal was an idol that had no powers. The story goes like this, Elijah shows up at Ahab's palace and declares, that in the name of the God of Israel, there would be no rain. There is no rain. Cattle and crops died. The country was devastated. After 3 ½ years Elijah presents himself again to Ahab and Ahab confesses that for 3 ½ years Baal has not responded to their prayers. Would Elijah please pray?

God had everyone where He needed them. They realized their great need, and were looking to Him to solve it. Elijah told Ahab to bring all the people with the prophets of Baal and meet him on Mt. Carmel. There was to be a test. They would each build an alter and offer a bullock. The god who answered with fire would be the true God. Baal worshipers prayed, danced, cut, jumped and shouted most of the day, no fire. Elijah stepped forward, poured water on the alter, then, humbly prayed and fire consumed the bullock, the wood, the alter and the water around the alter.

I suppose it would not class as a scientific test, but if you had been there, you would have been foolish not to admit that the God of Israel, the Creator-God, had answered Elijah's prayer.

Is that repeatable in a scientific study? No way!

Nor is Peter and John's healing of the cripple by praying to Jesus provable by scientific methods. See Acts 3:1-9

Science does bear out that a positive attitude promotes healing, that a calm peaceful life is good for the health. The body is made that way, and no matter the reason for your peace, it seems to work. But prayer is different. It presumes we are calling on a higher power. If the power is impotent, the prayer goes unanswered. If the power is the all-wise God of the universe, it is answered in God's wisdom.

I often hold up my friends and loved ones in prayer to the Lord, Jesus Christ. I leave my request in His hands to answer as He sees fit. I wait in peace. I have seen God intervene in my life and answer many prayers—including many healings! My family and friends can exchange answers to our prayers for hours. That is all the proof I need!

Does prayer heal? No way. Does God heal in answer to our humble petitions through prayer? Sometimes. Does God hear our prayers? Always!

This essay inspired by my study of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 22:30 God says He needs someone to stand in the gap / intercede.

I am a woman of:

• Prayer
• Praise
• passion
• Power
• Peace
• purpose
• Poise
• purpose

I am a princess! -- God's daughter

Powerful talk by Janice Watson:

https://www.audioverse.org/english/sermons/recordings/1179/becoming-a-godly-woman-part-3.html

Psalm 
 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 
 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 
 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

Psalm 
 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 
 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 
 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 
 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 

Psalm 
 118:18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. 
 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD

God is all-wise, all-powerful, all-knowing and LOVE. He is ruler of the Universe, (everything) but, built within the very fabric of love is freedom to choose, and God gave us that freedom.
 
Thus, God sets aside His sovereignty and allows us to choose against His will.
 
When we choose wrong, whether willfully or ignorantly, God allows it, but, because of His love, He seeks to bring us back into relationship so that He can show us a better way.
 
Proverbs 3 is a great chapter. Here is the beginning:
 
Proverbs 3:1-8
 
 
It points out the truth that when we seek to know and follow God’s will, He will help us deal with life as it hits us.
 
Philippians 4:4-9

The choices we make today become who we are tomorrow. God has given us a clear picture of His will, and if we choose to follow Him, He gives us an inner peace and a power to face the storms of life.
 
If we choose to do nothing that will displease God, He will, after we ask Him, show us the path we should take, and not only that, He will give us the courage  and power to follow that path!
 
 Check it out in the following verses:
 
Proverbs 3:1-7
James1:5, 6
1 Corinthians 10:31
Philippians 4:13
Philippians 4:19

As I looked forward into 2016 and back into 2015, I summed it all up in the following bit of personal philosophy.

Life is a series of challenges—our health, our children, our daily ability to cope, the immorality of society, our fragile nation—both economically and environmentally, but we take heart because we know that God, Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe, is still on His throne. We are learning to lean on Him to carry us through. We want Him to shape our values and our priorities. The message that comforts us this New Year is that God hurts with us, but He has a bigger plan. He foresaw these times before we got here, and He has told us it will get a lot worse. The time is upon us when sin and the consequences of it will be so devastating that all will be forced to look for solutions. It is then that all will choose between good and evil, between God and the devil. THEN, (praise His name!), God will come, rescue all who chose Him as Lord and destroy the devil and all evil. Then the entire universe will see God’s love. The good news is that He has promised, if we trust Him,  to carry us through.

I like this upward thinking. My hope, my safety is in Jesus. My goal for this year is to know Him better. I plan to do that by submersing myself in His Word, the Bible. Won't you join me?

Here, after a year of silence we are posting again.

There is a lot to study about the "old" and "new" the covenants. I have summed it up this way:

Hebrews 10:16 This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;  10:17    And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 

If God were speaking to us today of the same covenant, perhaps it would be something like this:
 
Look, I understand that life on this earth is full of problems. From the day that sin entered, all have sinned and brought terrible curses—consequences—upon themselves and others. Your lives are miserable, and all you have to look forward to is death. BUT I extend to you the same proposition that I have extended from the very first. My covenant: A promise of life—blessings!
 
My Son—Jesus Christ, Creator of the Universe, my other self—actually came to this earth, died the death that was yours so you can live eternally with me. If you accept, I will send the Holy Spirit to teach you how to walk in this sinful world and give you the overcoming power so you can avoid the consequences of sin and can sit down with Me on My Throne

The journey will not be easy. In fact we are told we will.  1 Peter 1:7 tells us we will have troubles,  "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: " But in the end the promise of Revelation in 3:21 is ours. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Just writing this out helped me. Let me know if it helped you.

Finally, the Psalms scattered throughout this site have been joined with others to create a beautiful picture/psalm book, Sing a New Psalm. Please keep an eye on this site for it's introduction. If you were one of the ones who just bought an introductory copy, please give me feedback through this blog. The second printing is coming soon, and I would like to have your feedback first.  Thank You!