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Certainly all people should be free to offer prayer on behalf of the afflicted, but there is also the matter of wisdom.

We always prayed for our children's illnesses and boo-boos, and taught them to pray for any need or concern they might have. We ALSO treated their wounds with antispectics and bandaids, and went to a physician if there were any indication of infection or lack of reasonable recovery.

This can be a problem in faith communities (Christian or non-Christian) that do not have a balanced view of this issue. In some circles it is not "spiritual" to go to doctors or hospitals, because one is putting faith in man and not God. Unfotunately this is a false view of God's providential care, Who also uses expedient or contingent means to heal.

What would a non-human-medicine person do if someone cut a two-inch gash in their arm that was bleeding profusely - only pray. I think not.

Sincere people can be led astray by super-spiritual leaders who want to inculcalte a "spiritual, faith-only" image for THEIR ministry. Although nowadays going into a hospital can be an act of faith as well. I can tell you horror stories of friends and acquaintances who received wretched care and treatment. But there are the good stories too.

Biblical truth and living are based upon truth and wisdom, not image and super-spirituality. There are stories of miraculous recoveries in response to great prayer vigils. Even though this is true, we must use wisdom and enlist the help of God's gift of medicine when clearly needed. They are to be used together, not in opposition to one another.

I have to wonder about this issue being a problem in the 21st century in America. I would have thought that the age of witch-doctoring would have fallen aside in favor of a science-based approach to treating the problems that occur to our bodies.

One question that occurs to me is whether these folks who are so keen on trying to deal with physical problems (including mental health problems) using faith are doing so because they fear science? There are churches where science in general is held up as the great enemy of faith. Could it be that these parents are allowing their children to suffer even die rather than admit that science might have some answers that are right?

Nikos says that he has always allowed doctors to treat his kids, and that he prayed in addition to the treatment. While prayers may not have stood up to the tests of science so far as adding value to medical treatments, I expect that they did add value to his family's life, which is a good thing any way you look at it, I think. That's cool. Going the prayer-only route in the presence of the wondrous tools science has provided for our survival is decidedly not cool.

Attempting to treat a child's illness with prayer only is a disaster waiting to happen. Parents that refuse medical treatment in favor of faith healing should be prosecuted for child endangerment and the child should be removed from the care of those people for their own safety.

namtac,
an interesting approach you take - first you liken those who pray for healing "with witch doctoring" then to smooth it over you say you expect it "did add value to his family's life".
left to you no one would have their free choice in matters of health, you say science is the wondrous tool which provides for our survival. at first glance i tend to agree that science (a gift from God) is an excellent tool to mankind but to relegate prayer as a lesser tool somehow doesn't sit right with me. like nikos i also believe all things should be peppered with prayer and thanksgiving. also like nikos it is my understanding that God wants his people to take appropriate care of those whom we love, which does not exclude medical attention. i (personally) do not advocate letting a (or my) child suffer and die needlessly when simple medical attention would alleviate the problem. imo anyone who has read, studied and petitioned God for understanding of the scriptures ought to come away with the knowledge that we are created in His image and we are instructed thusly..........

"we are commanded to lay down our lives for others, love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, advice each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, sing to each other, share with each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each other. Not to compete. And in doing all these, we are laying down our lives for others as Jesus initially did for us.
All the above commands are what Jesus expects us to do for our fellow Christians. Though it may not be easy, but we still have to do it for the sake of God, so that His blessings would be multiplied in our lives.
1st John 3:16 – 24 - “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for other brethren. “But whoever has this world's goods & sees his brother in need & shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
so in my understanding - if i have it in my power (i.e have the world's goods) to use medicine and science to help someone but choose not to utilize them (i.e.shut up his heart from him) then i am not honoring Gods word in truth or in deed.
so overall i guess i agree with your statement with the exception of comparing my faith to witch doctoring. my first line of defense is to speak (pray) with God and then proceed to take the necessary steps needed. as an example several years ago my wife and i were in greensboro and have just left a restaurant and were headed home - my wife started to say something to me and i at looked at her and the right side of her face was drooping and her speak was slurred (she was having a stroke). i pulled over and offered a quick prayer and thanksgiving to God then waved down a police officer and she called for ems. as ems was on the scene and attending to my wife, i drifted off and leaned against a fence and sought fervently Gods grace and healing for my wife - after a week in the hospital and a battery of tests they concluded she had a full blown stroke "but" she suffered no physical impairment of any type - she was healed. say what you will but in my heart i know that God intervened and shed His love and grace upon my wife. the only thing that has changed for my wife is that she takes Coumoden every day. there was no witch doctoring going go just plain old faith and trust going on.

"I would have thought that the age of witch-doctoring would have fallen aside in favor of a science-based approach to treating the problems that occur to our bodies."

Namtac, your "witch doctoring" comment is over-the-top as a general indictment; an attempt to condemn faith-only folks as ignorant and malicious fanatics who care nothing for the health of their loved ones. I think this is patently unfair.

As I stated previously, the problem is not a fear or hatred of science, per se, but an unbalanced and overzealous interpretation of Scripture. I have never come into contact with such people, even though I attended a charismatic church for several years back in the 70s' There was a keen interest in divine healing; but never by itself, without medical intenvention when prudent and necessary. Anti-medical types are very rare - even in circles that are more open to divine healing than mainstream churches. The problem of withholding medical treament has also been over the last century or so among JWs (blood transfusions) and Christian Science practitioners.

I think that the best motivated of Christian faith-only people DO care for their ailing loved ones. For such, the desire to glorify God alone and to assist their sick is an admirable inclination. However, I admit that there are those who are more concerned about their "faith image" than about the well being of the infirm, and consequently put them at risk. I do not apporve of this extreme and irresponsible behavior. But there is extreme and imprudent behavior in ALL sectors of human thought and endeavor. Percentage-wise it can be expected.

But a few points should be made before we condemn those who pray in faith to the living God. Namtac, you said:

"While prayers may not have stood up to the tests of science so far as adding value to medical treatments, I expect that they did add value to his family's life, which is a good thing any way you look at it, I think."

The value it added was not just in terms of psychological encouragement, but it postiviely impacted recovery time and prevention. We did not experience any miracles, as such, but I believe that our prayers were effective and demonstrable. There have been studies which show that prayer IS effective, and does assist recovery. Prayer is not to be seen as demanding a point-in-time miraculous event; but can be a general and very real participation in God's Presence in an individual or home - which produces an environment of divine health and well being (prevention).

PLUS, as I'm sure you're aware, there is considerable interest in alternative medicine today, which almost always includes non-substance psycho-spiritual methodologies. Not that I approve of all these approaches, but there is widespread dissaffection with traditional Western chemical-based medicine - which is not seen today as the all and end all of medical treatment it once was.

To put it negatively, there have been wrong legs cut off in surgery, wrong prescriptions issued, and malpractice of all types in the world of contemporary therapeudic procdures. One can get staph easily in hospitals today; and nursing care can be abominable. So I hardly think that your science and medicine idol can be worshipped with the absolute confidence you suggest.

I am thankful for what medicine can do, and consider it a gift from God. But it is certainly limited! - more than we think. In fact, it seems to be deteriorating rapidly in recent years. I believe that prayer to receive healing from God will be needed as long as the sun shines. I also think that miraculous divine healing, a la Jesus and the Apostles was historically real and always effectual, though I do not believe that such fully consistent miraculous healing is part of God's plan today. Perhaps it will again be common, but until then, we must use wisdom in combining faith and natural remedial solutions; and never put anyone at risk by wihtholding medical treatment - OR, I might add, by over-confidence in medical science alone.

Who cares more for their children; the parents or the state? I vote for the parents. They may sometimes be wrong, but I trust them to care for their children far more than I trust some anonymous bureaucrat.

I used "witch-doctor" to refer to the prayer-only crowd. Anyone who doesn't subscribe to that approach really ought not to object, I should think. Practically speaking, they view it the same way themselves.

When I said that prayer adds value to family life, I also don't see how that should be a problem for anyone. You folks do agree that it does so - correct?

Playing devil's advocate: Don't we always use the story of Abraham as faithfulness to God? Wasn't he willing to kill his son to please God? Why is it 'crazy' in 2008?

Nancy,
Appreciate your willingness to ask the tough question there. A lot of ways to approach that issue, to be sure, but I would answer this way: It's wrong to fail to use the tools God has given us to preserve what is precious in God's eyes -- life.
Abraham was indeed tested in this way, but that incident is unique so far as we know -- and it had a very clear point: God's promise to Abraham that the truly sacrificed Son would a) come through Abraham's line and b) would truly be sacrificed, unlike Isaac. Much, much more can be said about this, of course; it's a loaded passage. But just as Abraham was not excused from tending to his flocks or using the tools God had given him to manage the affairs of his life (in favor of prayer or faith in general that "God will provide"), we are not excused, either.
As I said, just one possible answer to a very good question, and again, I think it's good that you asked it. Thanks!