The Role of Prayer in Palliative Care
At the beginning of this year, Mr. and Mrs. Das, of Indian origin, from Papua New Guinea accompanied with us to visit our mission fields. They are supporters of our work and wanted to see what the Lord is doing in the interior parts of our State. In one of the places, while sharing Das shared that how the Lord has healed him fully from the ‘Breast Cancer’ of 4th stage which bothered him for four to five years.
During that time, he was going through the treatment and the matter was kept in prayer and also prayer was mobilized for his complete healing. Das shared that the beginning of this year before visiting our fields he had a follow up medical checkup and doctor declared that he is free from cancer cells. Everyone knowing there praise the Lord for His wondrous deed.
Indeed, it was a new lease of life for Das for which he is thankful to the Lord and prayers of His people. Yes, prayer with medical care may works wonders in the lives people.
I was born a Moslem, became a believer in 1967 and till 1978 I led a normal Christian life. In 1978, along with my passion for evangelism, church planting, and the Bible training, the Lord called me to get involved in the systematic and specific prayer ministry which I enjoy and has become a part of my life.
"Prayer is an important way to experience God as the religious believer can communicate with Him. By bringing their problems to God, or asking for forgiveness and help, they come closer to Him. Christians believe they can speak with God in prayer and are taught to pray by Jesus himself.
In palliative care, prayer can play a significant role in providing comfort, meaning, and a sense of control to patients facing serious illness by allowing them to connect with their spirituality and religious beliefs, often offering emotional support and helping them cope with the challenges of their situation, especially when dealing with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty about death; however, it’s crucial to respect individual beliefs and only engage in prayer practices when initiated by the patient.
Key points about prayer in palliative care:
Spiritual support:
Prayer can be a key component of spiritual care, which is considered an important aspect of palliative care, allowing patients to access a sense of peace and connection to a higher power.
Meaning-making:
For many people, prayer helps them find meaning and purpose in the face of a terminal illness, providing a framework to understand their situation.
Coping mechanism:
Prayer can act as a coping mechanism for managing stress, anxiety, and pain associated with illness and the dying process.
Today, every day I pray for a dozen of people who are going through some critical health issues. Five of them have cancers of different types and stages. Among one of them is suffering from rectal cancer for 15 plus years, which is not completely healed but managing well. Time and again, I have seen and experienced that prayer works alongside medical care.
Try to get a copy of “None of These Diseases” by Dr S I McMillen & Dr David E Stern. Dr McMillen worked in Africa as a medical missionary covers various topics from ‘addiction, cancer to women issues’, through the Scripture. Dr Elaine Sugden has written a book something on facing ‘death’ are worth to try to understand the realities of life and finding meaning to our lives through the Scripture.
Prayer works and God’s power is released through it. Let us become Praying People without discounting the role of medicine.
Rev Dr Saheb John Borgall, Tamil Nadu, India