Chapter 1. What is Prayer and Why Study it? -- Chapter 2. Studies of Prayer as a Complementary Therapy -- Chapter 3. A Theological Reflection on Prayer -- Chapter 4. The Relationship Between Spiritual Wellbeing and Quality of Life -- Chapter 5. A Randomized Blinded Study of Intercessory Prayer in Patients with Cancer -- Chapter 6. The impact of the study on the trials team -- Chapter 7. Response to our Study of Prayer -- Chapter 8. What next?
Summary
This book relates the experience of researching, planning, and conducting a scientific study into intercessory prayer (prayer for others). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether the impact of prayer could be measured in a formal study, based on the large number of anecdotal reports of efficacy. The study was a prospectively randomized double-blind trial that added prayer by an established Christian prayer group to conventional therapy for cancer. The unique design feature was that the primary endpoint was a change in a validated scale of spiritual well-being. The patients were infor
