Being There

An effort such as the National Day of Prayer can be a catalyst to pray more fervently, more effectively, recognizing that God infuses our lives with meaning and power as we come before Him - and as we pray corporately, there is an even greater measure of power that is released. Jesus taught in Matthew 18:
18 Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

Verse 18 suggests that while we are powerless in our own flesh against spiritual forces that are arrayed against us, if we take upon ourselves the resources God has made available to us, we can walk in His strength.  When we agree together, there is the availability of incredible power in the Holy Spirit - our agreement can enhance the power, but disunity can break it; that's why Satan wants to drive a wedge between believers in Christ. So, we can seek out prayer partners to agree with God's Word as we pray.

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The Bible teaches us to come before the Lord in prayer and recognize the power that is available to us through His presence and by His Word. James chapter 5 states:
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

This is the National Day of Prayer, and it's also "Survey Thursday."  So, I wanted to offer results from a study that can help us reflect on the effectiveness of a very unique ministry, which I would say most certainly includes the practice of prayer.

A recent Religion News story related:

For decades, hospital chaplains have offered hope and solace to patients and family alike as they navigate the trauma of being in the intensive care unit. But the impact of those efforts is often intangible, hard to measure and generally anecdotal.

But thanks to a new study of ICU patients’ family members and loved ones, data now confirms what many chaplains already know: Proactive, enhanced spiritual care leads to better spiritual and psychological outcomes.

The article quotes from the leader of the study, Dr. Alexia Torke of Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine. It took place between 2018 and 2021 and involved decision-making individuals, or surrogates, acting on behalf of ICU patients.  128 people were studied.  The results?

According to the article:

The study found that surrogates who received intensive spiritual care had more spiritual well-being and satisfaction with spiritual care and were “less likely to have anxiety and spiritual distress compared to those in control group,” according to Torke, a research scientist at Indiana University Center for Aging Research. Surrogates in the intervention group were “three times more likely to have a clinically important reduction in anxiety,” according to the study.

The study divided participants into two groups: a control group that received what the article described as "typical" chaplain care, and an "intervention" group that experienced greater chaplain involvement. 

Wendy Cadge is the Founder of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, and Religion News notes that she "said she hopes the study helps health care executives see the value of investing in and understanding chaplaincy." She is quoted as saying: “Through the lab and other avenues we have spent a lot of time trying to make sure that chaplains are trained well to do the work,” adding, “But if the decision-makers in health care either are not aware of the work or have a different understanding than chaplains themselves, or just don’t have the dollars, then people can be perfectly trained, but they’re still not going to be able to do their best work.”

The Lab, at Brandeis University, commissioned a Gallup poll last year, which found that one out of four Americans "have been served by a chaplain...with half of those people encountering chaplains in a health care setting."  So, this is certainly an important ministry opportunity. 

Chaplains are individuals who are sent, and their presence can be meaningful in a hospital setting, in a workplace, on a military base, in times of disaster, and in other areas of life.  The role of the chaplain has been described in certain circumstances, as a "ministry of presence," and it's a reminder that the presence of God goes with us, so we can be conduits of His love and bring assurance that He is with those who are hurting. 

There have been previous studies about the power of prayer and its impact on spiritual and physical well-being.  Yet, so often, we are guilty of perhaps not praying as quickly as we should when we are facing a challenging issue, perhaps a medical condition or an number of decisions we have to make. We can be reminded to apply prayer to whatever we face.