The Power of Prayer and Forgiveness

I recently finished a book called Gray Matter by Dr. David Levy.  If you believe in the power of prayer, this is a definite must read!  Dr. Levy is a neurosurgeon who began to pray with his patients after their appointments and/or right before they went into surgery. In the book he takes the reader through his thought process and how he came to this...he also discusses his fears about starting to pray with his patients.  We aren't talking some elaborate prayer here, he basically would say something along the lines of "Dear God, please guide me as I perform this surgery and give peace and comfort to Mr. So and So and his family. We know you are good. Amen."
Once he begins to feel comfortable with the whole prayer thing, he begins to ask his patients if they need to forgive anybody of wrongdoings or ask forgiveness for themselves. Why?  Because he has seen that if people are carrying around the burden of bitterness towards another person or even God, that that can manifest itself as an unexplained illness.  For example, one of his patients had awful headaches and her neck was in serious pain...however, there was no medical explanation for it. Once she realized that she was bitter towards another person, she forgave the person and asked God's forgiveness for herself as well.  The patients describe an immediate "lightness" as if a heavy burden has been lifted off of their shoulders. They also describe a near immediate joy that overcomes them.

It is absolutely amazing to me to read books like this and have a first hand account of the power of God.  How many of us have unexplained illnesses, whether it's headaches, neck pain, back pain, you name it.  Could it be that we are just carrying around so much bitterness towards other people or God that it's just weighing us down and manifesting itself through physical symptoms?

Could you imagine sitting in the doctor's office and at the end of your appointment having the doctor ask you if it was okay if he/she said a prayer for you?  I think most of us would be completely floored (which is what Dr. Levy describes a lot in his book)!  We often think of doctors as being these uptight arrogant people who are just like robots - they come in, do the procedure and leave. But Dr. Levy shows a whole other side to doctors...they are actually human and some actually care about their patients physical well-being, and some even their spiritual well-being.

I urge every person that reads this to forgive anybody you may have bitterness against and also ask God's forgiveness for yourself. I'm sure it will make you feel better.  And pray! Always pray, it's just like having a conversation with God, just tell him what's going on with you.

I pray for God's blessing and love on each and every one that reads this post!  :)

...Now on to my next book (other than my Research Methods textbook, that is) Digital Disciple. I will let ya'll know how it is...