KANSAS CITY, Nov 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A randomized, controlled study published in the current issue of the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine shows empirically that “intercessory prayer produced a measurable improvement in the medical outcomes of critically ill patients.” Overall the study found that patients who were prayed for had 11% less complications than those who were not prayed for.
The study involved 990 patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit at the Mid America Heart Institute (MAHI), Kansas City, Mo. Patients were randomly assigned to either a prayer group or a normal care group. The first names of those assigned to a prayer group were given to practicing Christians to pray for them. The intercessors were asked to pray daily for the next 28 days for “a speedy recovery with no complications” and neither subjects, nor medical staff nor researchers knew who were being prayed for prior to the conclusion of the study.