My Journey with Prostate Cancer and what I believe to be God incidents.

User

Posted 06 Jun 2019 at 08:21

An interesting article on a large-scale research project to determine the power of prayer on medical recovery:

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html

“Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.”

“The patients were broken into three groups. Two were prayed for; the third was not. Half the patients who received the prayers were told that they were being prayed for; half were told that they might or might not receive prayers.”

“Analyzing complications in the 30 days after the operations, the researchers found no differences between those patients who were prayed for and those who were not.

In another of the study's findings, a significantly higher number of the patients who knew that they were being prayed for — 59 percent — suffered complications, compared with 51 percent of those who were uncertain. The authors left open the possibility that this was a chance finding. But they said that being aware of the strangers' prayers also may have caused some of the patients a kind of performance anxiety.”

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 06 Jun 2019 at 10:50

Thanks Chris for this study, which I, as a thinker, take note of.

The first miraculous healing I experienced was 51 yrs ago - a deaf guy I laid hands on at the end of a meeting in Toulouse. That was “hands on”, in a spiritual “faith ambience”. I've been in on some dramatic “healings at a distance”, but my experience is that it's more common for folk to get healed instantly (or feel a definite change in their symptoms) in the street/supermarket, on the bus or even in church when there's personal engagement.

The point about performance anxiety is really important. It comes out in this very free translation (from the Aramaic) of John 16:23-4

All things that you ask straightly and directly from inside My name you shall be given. So far you have not done this. Ask without hidden motive and be surrounded by your answer. Be enveloped by what you desire, that your gladness be full.

If that hidden motive is some kind of “performance anxiety” - be it to please someone praying for you or to impress folk who are watching...in fact any motivation except love, then forget it baby!

Where does that leave me, taking note of the survey? I'll still offer to pray for people on social media, but encourage them to personal engagement with me or the person praying for them. Blessings - David

User

Posted 06 Jun 2019 at 12:10

Sorry Andrew for being a bit indirect - your questions deserve clear answers
Why do you think that your god has singled you out for such preferential treatment, while 'he' allows so many thousands of children to die awful deaths from cancer?

As a thinker, I'm a non-dualist. Like St Paul I believe that "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him" and that I and God are one. Not because I'm special - anyone can get in on that one-ness.

So I'm going to take my share of the blame and responsibility, along with God. The miracles I've had on me, and that have happened when I've prayed for people over the past 50 years have been down to me and down to Him (no separation). I prayed and got people to pray for me when I had skin cancer and eye problems - getting healed was a real faith-battle each time, but it happened. It was my decision...and the love of friends and family who cared and prayed for me.

More miracles like those would happen if more people prayed like that.

So why do others not get healed? I don't know, but I'm going to do all I can while I'm alive to bring healing to as many as I can in the world by 1. Giving to medical and research charities. 2. Caring for the environment and encouraging healthy living 3. Using my time, faith and relationship with God to be part of the answer to "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" - and that will include praying with/for people I meet in the world (real or virtual).

In my days as a lecturer, twice I had to teach courses in Philosophy of Religion (reluctantly). Involving of course "The Problem of Evil". We can go into that privately, if it would be helpful, but 2 quick things. 1. Evil poses problems for those who believe in God...but denying God doesn't solve them. They come back as "The Problem of Good" 2. Looking at suffering in terms of "classical x=x/A is not non-A/ a>b>c then a>c logic" is a blind alley. Best suggestion I have is to look at Gregg Braden's "The Divine Matrix" https://www.facebook.com/148725225302229/photos/braden-gregg-the-divine-matrixpdfbetween-1993-and-2000-a-series-of-groundbreakin/477356639105751/

Which, of course, raises the obvious follow-up question:

Could your miracles be simply a combination of luck and good medicine?

You might call this a cop-out, but as a non-dualist, I don't distinguish between miraculous healing and conventional medicine in my thinking - God is in them both. The distinction is that I'm not claiming to be a doctor, just a guy who prays for people, some of whom get healed. I'm just as glad when someone gets well through medicine as I am when there's an instant miracle. Taking liberties with St Paul (1 Corinthians 13)...if it ain't love, forget it baby!

Best I can manage for now, but friend me on FaceBook or Messenger (only one David Derrington in UK) - David

User

Posted 07 Jun 2019 at 10:58

Religion will be the death of mankind - long live atheism!!

User

Posted 07 Jun 2019 at 11:51

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Religion will be the death of mankind - long live atheism!!

Religion has already accounted for many more deaths than atheism ever did: even if you count Stalin as an atheist (by no means certain), his tally pales into insignificance compared to the old testament.

But atheism is becoming 'the norm', partly as organised religion discredits itself with such arrogance and ignorance, partly as it's hard to justify our tiny blue planet lost in the extremes of a minor galaxy in a tired universe being somehow 'The One'.

Interestingly, it's only where religion is actively opposed, even persecuted, that it thrives: hence the recent rise in militant Islam, after centuries of slow decline, the temporary rise in Russia after 50 years of suppression (declining again now the heat is off). No accident that Rich American Born Agains nurture the unlikely claim Christianity is 'persecuted' to create a fake climate for growth.

But all this is irrelevant to PCa, as well as most people's daily lives, so it's my last in this thread! ;-)

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 17:56

Just picked up on this post that I posted in 2015.

Lots of negative thoughts about God and healing since then I see.

My journey continues, just to let everyone know it is now 18 years since my diagnosis, all has been well but over the past couple of years my PSA has increased to 6, small spot of cancer has been found in my prostate but nothing elsewhere so it is back on to Hormone Therapy until it drops then rest until it rises again.

At 84 I am happy about that, hope to see my grand daughter reach 18 in 7 years time [Oncologist thinks that is more than possible], I still trust and thank God for looking after me.

I am still in the hands of Jesus which is the best place to be.

When the end does come I know that I will be with Jesus in heaven, all my many sins forgiven as he has promised us.

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 18:29

Hi Roy

I'm a non believer, but if you believe that believing helps, I envy you.

Edited by member 26 Aug 2024 at 18:37 | Reason: Typo

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 20:33

Thanks for the update Roy - stay strong in Him 😊

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 20:43

Where was God on 29 July in Southport when that monster butchered those poor little girls?

I get it people find faith important, that's freedom of choice but for many , me included, all Religion is a fairy story.

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 21:34

Roy: I'm glad you're still around after 18 years. Gives all the newbies hope.

Adrian: Well I like your "A place to have a chat" thread, but I think these old timers could give you a run for your money. I wouldn't attempt this sort of debate until I had had a skin full of beer, and thankfully by then I can't use a computer keyboard.

Dave

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 22:04

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Fortunately, no-one has been brave enough, or foolish enough, or drunk enough, to discuss politics or religion in polite company. 😁

Edited by member 26 Aug 2024 at 22:05 | Reason: Typo

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 23:13

Jasper,

Although I do believe in God. I also wonder where he was that day too.

Melissa x

Mrs MAS

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 23:27

Roy fantastic to see you are still around after 18 years. As always with these forums good news stories are not the one's you hear a lot of. Statistically speaking you have beat the odds. I was told when I was diagnosed I would have 15 years. I then had to explain to my wife, who was in floods of tears at this point, how medical stats work. Once you get to 20 years I think your life span is actually better than the average because of prostate treatment.

User

Posted 26 Aug 2024 at 23:32

It's so nice to hear you talking about your faith, I am Christian as well,

God holds us all in the palm of His hand He knows the exact date when we are all going to die, some have dissed your belief in Jesus I just feel sorry for them

User

Posted 27 Aug 2024 at 09:05

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Religion will be the death of mankind - long live atheism!!

I have to correct you there -

The biggest kill count belongs to Communism - 100 million people slaughtered by Communist regimes in the last 100 years

At the heart of Communism is a hatred of Christ

User

Posted 27 Aug 2024 at 13:01

If God decides to save someone from prostate cancer-death (or anything) how does he/she/.... choose? Just wondering.

Edited by member 28 Aug 2024 at 12:08 | Reason: Not specified

'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate

User

Posted 27 Aug 2024 at 15:39

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

If God decides to save someone from prostate cancer-death (or anything) how does he/she/.... chooses? Just wondering.

A good question:

It is not always God’s will to heal a person physically. A person may sincerely pray and truly have faith that God can heal, but if it is not God’s will to provide the healing at that time, then no healing will come (see 1 John 5:14). Sometimes God’s blessings come in other ways besides physical healing.

If it were always God’s will for people to be healed, then everyone would be healed every time he or she became ill. If good health were always God’s will, then Christians should never die. We can’t blame someone’s malady on a lack of faith, for we know, biblically, that God sometimes uses illness to accomplish His will. Also, it’s not just wayward believers who get sick. Paul “left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20), and Paul himself had a physical ailment that the Lord declined to heal (2 Corinthians 12:7–9).

Often, Christians have an over-simplified idea of healing. They think that, if they are sick, they have only to ask God to heal them and, because God loves them, He will heal them straightaway. Healing is seen as proof of a person’s faith and of God’s love. This idea persists in some circles in spite of the truth that every mother knows: a parent does not give her child everything he asks for every time, no matter how much she loves him.It is not always God’s will to heal a person physically. A person may sincerely pray and truly have faith that God can heal, but if it is not God’s will to provide the healing at that time, then no healing will come (see 1 John 5:14). Sometimes God’s blessings come in other ways besides physical healing.

User

Posted 27 Aug 2024 at 16:00

That's very convenient.

Just stop falling for the delusion offered by organised religion and take control of your own life.

User

Posted 27 Aug 2024 at 16:33

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

That's very convenient.
Just stop falling for the delusion offered by organised religion and take control of your own life.

In my 50 odd years as a Christian I have seen many answers to prayer, not only my own but other peoples, to say that they are a delusion is going too far, I rather believe what I have seen with my own eyes.

I will not say much more on this subject as it is not really the correct place, but I do hope that those who do have a Christian faith will find that what I have said will give them encouragement.

Edited by member 27 Aug 2024 at 17:29 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 28 Aug 2024 at 12:13

Hi Roy

Thank you for responding. It would be easy to continue with this discussion but we would never agree because not only I am not a Christian but also I don't share your belief in God. This is really the wrong forum to discuss such a subject anyway.

Regards

Pratap

'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate

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