"These data suggest that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God has a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients admitted to a CCU, " he concluded.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba

The study looked at 17 previously published papers and found that "patients who received intercessory prayer demonstrated significant improvement" in seven of those.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba

Indeed, perhaps the most certain result stemming from this study is the following: The findings are unlikely to satisfy either proponents or opponents of intercessory prayer.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba

His paper in the Southern Medical Journal concluded that patients in the intercessory prayer group had "a significantly lower severity score" than the control group.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba

Whatever you might think about its links to a supernatural being, intercessory prayer is a straightforward way for an individual to focus the mind on their capacity to think nice thoughts.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba