To pray or not to pray: Reflections on the intersection of prayer and medicine

Recent medical studies documenting the influence of prayer in our physical lives challenge mainstream Christians to rethink their ideas and practice of prayer. A new model of prayer questions dysfunctional images of prayer based on 1) the doctrine of divine omnipotence, 2) the rewards-punishments notion of health and illness, and 3) linear notions of the power of prayer. Relational, holistic, and multidimensional images of God, human existence, and the effects of prayer provide the basis for a constructive theology of prayer. Ironically, the fact that prayer is not omnipotent makes it possible to practice prayer in a technological context.