Health Kneeling

“…there is ample evidence to show that people who regularly attend church, pray, read, and put into practice what the Bible or their faith teaches, are healthier overall. Just for starters, they have significantly lower blood pressure, are hospitalized less, recover from surgery faster, have stronger immune systems, and are likely to live longer. Emotional health also benefits; family life is better and depression is lower in those with faith…”

Leo R. Van Dolson, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Leo Van Dolson, Ph.D., has served the Seventh-day Adventist Church as pastor, missionary, college and university teacher, writer, and editor for 54 years. At one point in his career he taught health education at the Loma Linda University of Health, and later served as editor of Life and Health Magazine. Now retired, he lives in McDonald, Tennessee. This article originally appeared in The Journal of Health and Healing and is used with their permission.

Have you noticed how many articles currently appear in the popular press and in professional health journals concerning the close link between religion and health? Here are some interesting excerpts.

Forgiveness & Health

Research on forgiveness as a factor in releasing people from the harmful effects of anger, rage, and stress, such as cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, cancer, and other lifestyle-related diseases, is being conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Robert Enright of that institution is at the fore-front of forgiveness research. Researchers already have discovered that forgiveness significantly decreases anxiety, anger, grief, and depression, with corresponding health benefits.⁽¹⁾

"People who forgive and forget enjoy better physical and emotional health than their grudge-holding peers who tend to be angry and fearful. Each emotion can cause heart-rate and blood pressure to rise. Over time this can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other ailments. Forgiveness should extend to oneself, as well as to others."⁽²⁾

Religion, Longer Life, and Better Health

Dr. Dale Matthews of Georgetown University Medical Center states, "there's little doubt that healthy religious faith and practices can help people get better."⁽³⁾ More than 30 studies have found a connection between religious commitment and longer life. Dr. Jeffrey S. Levin, former professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School reports that religion is a factor in cutting down the incidence of disease. This was based on 200 studies among widely diverse ethnic and age groups.⁽⁴⁾


Researchers at Georgetown University School of Medicine, went back through 212 peer-reviewed studies relating to religious commitment and health. It was found that persons with religious commitment are less likely to suffer from substance abuse, and on the whole have greater psychological health, less depression, greater coping skills, better marriages, less anxiety, less delinquency, and even improved medical outcomes in sickness.⁽⁵⁾

More to Health & Healing Than Pills

A cover story in the June 24, 1996 issue of Time magazine reports that there is a shift among doctors toward the view that there is more to healing than pills and scalpels. Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School states that "Anywhere from 60 percent to 90 percent of visits to doctors are in the mind-body stress-related realm."⁽⁶⁾ A 1995 study at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center found that one of the best predictors of survival among heart surgery patients was the degree to which the patients said they drew comfort and faith from religious strength. "Non-churchgoers have been found to have a suicide rate four times higher than churchgoers."⁽⁷⁾

Church Attendance and Health

In 1988, The Heritage Foundation published all the studies it could find on religion's link to health and social stability. Its review found that regular church attendance is the most critical factor in marital stability; also researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found cardiovascular disease significantly reduced by a lifetime of church attendance.⁽⁸⁾

Harold G. Koenig, the director of Duke University's Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health, published a book in 1999 on the Healing Power of Faith. "He demonstrates that there is ample evidence to show that people who regularly attend church, pray, read, and put into practice what the Bible or their faith teaches, are healthier overall. Just for starters, they have significantly lower blood pressure, are hospitalized less, recover from surgery faster, have stronger immune systems, and are likely to live longer. Emotional health also benefits; family life is better and depression is lower in those with faith."⁽⁹⁾

A new analysis of dozens of past studies confirms that regular attendance at religious services is related to living a longer life. You're 29 percent more likely to live longer if you're involved in regular religious activity. Michael McCullough and several colleagues at the National Institute for Health Care Research reviewed 42 studies that examined the experience of 126,000 people. Their review is published in the June, 2000, issue of Health Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association. The researchers noted that people who are actively religious tend to take better care of themselves. The religious restrictions of groups like the Seventh-day Adventists, who prohibit smoking and drinking, make healthier members, the researchers said.⁽¹⁰⁾

Prayer and Faith Effective

Dr. David Larson, a senior government researcher in Washington, D.C., reported in The American Journal of Natural Medicine (May 1995) that prayer and faith actually help prevent high blood pressure and other serious illnesses. He found that "faith can enhance surgical results and recovery time."⁽¹¹⁾

Dr. Randolph Byrd did the landmark study, published in 1988, on the value of intercessory prayer for patients admitted to the coronary care unit at San Francisco General Hospital. In a randomized, double-blind protocol, 192 patients were entered in an intercessory prayer group and 201 in a control group by computer. "Byrd discovered that the people in the intercessory prayer group ended up with fewer patients suffering from congestive heart failure during recovery [2 1/2 times less likely], and they had to use fewer diuretics [five times less likely], and were less frequently incubated, and experienced fewer cases of pneumonia and cardiovascular arrests."⁽¹²⁾

Prayer and Divine Healing

When my twin brother, Fred, and I were five years old, Fred was run over by a car with faulty brakes. The car hurtled down a steep street in San Francisco much faster than it should have. Suffering from a severely fractured skull, Fred was unconscious for several days. Because the doctor held out little hope for him, our parents, who had grown up in the Adventist Church but were not practicing their religion, called Adventist ministers to pray for his healing. When Fred was healed even the doctor attributed his recovery to divine power. This miracle led directly to the Van Dolsons becoming faithful Seventh-day Adventist church members.

My first pastorate was in the Brookings-Gold Beach district in Oregon, where Roy and Rose Slaybaugh were living. My family and I moved there soon after Roy's miraculous healing (recorded in Rose Slaybaugh's book, Escape from Death).⁽¹³⁾ Most of the members of the Gold Beach church at that time had joined the church because of the impression this miracle made on them. Roy's physician, who claimed to be an agnostic, told me that he had done nothing to heal Roy and could only explain Roy's spectacular healing as supernatural. Roy told me that he had not experienced one moment of pain in spite of the terrible nature of his wounds.

The first thing he knew after his automobile accident was that he woke up and saw an angel standing at the foot of his bed, who reached up and touched him, telling him that he would be all right now. That was news to Roy as he did not know he was dying nor that the doctor had said there was no hope for him. Roy had been anointed by an Adventist pastor from Crescent City, California, who followed the scriptural plan for healing the sick found in James 5:^(14),(15); "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

Is There Any Healing Other Than Divine Healing?

When the surgeon removes an offending organ has he "healed" the patient or has he only made it more likely that healing will occur? What goes on in the patient's body after the surgeon has sewn the cut edges of the wound was planned long ago in the mind of the Creator. The physician may set a broken bone, but he cannot make it grow together again.

Obviously, the hand of the Creator still works in the healing and restoration of our bodies. He has made provision for the body to fight off infection and disease to begin with, and to heal itself when afflicted with disease. Is it unrealistic then, for human beings to turn to their Creator when overwhelmed by sickness and disease? If God is interested in us, as the Bible indicates, we can expect Him to care for our needs. And God Himself has established a plan for us to follow when we ask Him to heal our physical infirmities, just as He has established a plan for recovery from spiritual infirmity. His plan is not limited to only caring for those fully committed to Him. It is also one way He has provided for those who have not yet learned to know and trust Him, to be impressed by His love for, and interest in them.

When Christ ordained His twelve disciples and sent them out to minister to the needs of the people in the surrounding countryside, "He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." Matthew 10:1 Luke adds that "They departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere." Luke 9:6 When Jesus later sent out the seventy, He demonstrated that the work of teaching and healing was not to be limited to ordained ministers; He commissioned these lay workers: "Into whatsoever city ye enter... heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." Luke 10:8, 9 That this plan was intended to apply to the church throughout the ages is made plain in the Great Commission, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. ...And these signs shall follow them that believe;... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16:15-18

Conditions for Answers to Prayer for Healing

There are conditions that God knows it is best for us to meet before we can expect His full blessing in this matter. "In the word of God we have instruction relative to special prayer for the recovery of the sick. But the offering of such prayer is a most solemn act, and should not be en¬tered upon without careful consideration.

In many cases of prayer for the healing of the sick, that which is called faith is nothing less than presumption. Many persons bring disease upon themselves by their self-indulgence. They have not lived in accordance with natural law or the principles of strict purity. Others have disregarded the laws of health in their habits of eating and drinking, dressing, or working. Often some form of vice is the cause of feebleness of mind or body.

Should these persons gain the blessing of health, many of them would continue to pursue the same course of heedless transgression of God's natural and spiritual laws, reasoning that if God heals them in answer to prayer, they are at liberty to continue their unhealthful practices and to indulge perverted appetite without restraint. If God were to work a miracle in restoring these persons to health, He would be encouraging sin. It is labor lost to teach people to look to God as a healer of their infirmities, unless they are taught also to lay aside unhealthful practices."⁽¹⁴⁾

How to actually present our prayers in such a way as to express quiet confidence in and submissiveness to the will of God is explained in The Ministry of Healing, pp. 229, 230. "In prayer for the sick it should be remembered that 'we know not what we should pray for as we ought.' Romans 8:26 We do not know whether the blessing we desire will be best or not. Therefore our prayers should include this thought: 'Lord, Thou knowest every secret of the soul. Thou art acquainted with these persons. Jesus, their Advocate, gave His life for them. His love for them is greater than ours can possibly be. If, therefore, it is for Thy glory and the good of the afflicted ones, we ask, in the name of Jesus, that they may be restored, we ask that Thy grace may comfort and Thy presence sustain them in their sufferings.' God knows the end from the beginning. He is acquainted with the hearts of all men. He reads every secret of the soul. He knows whether those for whom prayer is offered would or would not be able to endure the trials that would come upon them should they live. He knows whether their lives would be a blessing or a curse to themselves and to the world. This is one reason why, while presenting our petitions with earnestness, we should say, 'Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done...' Luke 22:42 The consistent course is to commit our desires to our all-wise heavenly Father, and then, in perfect confidence, trust all to Him."⁽¹⁵⁾

God's miracles do not always appear outwardly to be miracles. Often they are brought about in a way that looks natural.

When prayer is offered for the sick, we help answer our prayers by using those natural remedies within our reach. "Natural means, used in accordance with God's will, bring about supernatural results. We ask for a miracle and the Lord directs the mind to some simple remedy. We ask to be kept from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, that is stalking with such power through the world; we are then to cooperate with God, observing the laws of health and life."⁽¹⁶⁾

It is evident that we should do more than we have been in heeding Christ's commission to pray for and heal the sick. This is not to be done in mass-healing sessions that feature showmanship and sensationalism, but in a quiet, calm way as part of an overall medical missionary program that ministers to the physical, social, mental, and spiritual needs of those with whom we come in contact. We are to combine such prayer ministry with the use of the simple remedies God has given, and educate our neighbors to reform their habits of living and come into conformity with both natural and moral law. Those for whom we pray are to be led to confidently trust in God and pray with us that His wise and loving will be done. After prayer, they are to cooperate with Him in His plan for their lives and especially to share the blessings they have gained with those more needy than themselves.

If you would like to subscribe to The Journal of Health and Healing or order back issues where much more health articles are available, call 706-820-1493, Ext. 407.

REFERENCES:

(1).    Thomas, Gary, The Forgiveness Factor. Christianity Today, January 10:40,41,2000.
(2).    Thurston, Carl, Ph.D., (Principal investiga¬tor, Stanford University Forgiveness Pro¬ject). Bottom Line HEALTH, March: 14,2000.
(3).    Mcintosh, Phyllis, Faith Is Powerful Medicine. Reader's Digest, October:l52,1999.
(4).    Ibid.
(5).    Griffin, Vicki, Does Religion Really Benefit People? Fast Facts, 4(20, quoting The Journal of General Internal Medicine, April 4, Suppl. 10:111, 1995.
(6).    Wallace, Claudia, Faith and Healing. Time, June 24:58, 1966.
(7).    Ibid.
(8).    Neal, Andrea, The Benefits of Religious Practice. The Saturday Evening Post, Mar., April:38, 1998.
(9).    Hart, Archibald D., Take Ten Command¬ments and Call Me in the Morning. Christianity Today, Nov. 15:101,102, 1999.
(10).    McCollough, M., et al., Review of studies published in Health Psychology, a Journal of the American Physiological Association, 06/00.
(11).    Larson, D. Reported in The American Journal of Natural Medicine, May 1995.
(12).    Thomas, Gary, Doctors Who Pray. Christianity Today, January 6:22, 1997.
(13).    Slaybaugh, R., Escape from Death. Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, TN, 1953.
(14).    White, Ellen G., The Ministry of Healing, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mt. View, CA, 1909, p. 227.
(15).    Ibid, pp. 229, 230.
(16).    White, Ellen G., Selected Messages, Bk. 2, Re-view and Herald Publishing Assoc, 1958, p. 346.