I mostly agree with Jeffrey Weiss about prayer. I think St. Paul would too.
intercessory prayer
God’s response to Job is cold comfort when you have terminal cancer.
Every week, Cameron visited the lonely and afflicted. Now I’m visiting him.
The prayers of the people call us. When we answer, we invite the possibility that it is we who will be poor, hungry, sick, and in prison.
That Dragon, Cancer is a unique video game: it offers us the experience of our powerlessness.
Do we ask for miracles? Do we pray, if only to cover our bases, that God would give special guidance to doctors? And what would happen if we didn't pray?
Maybe this is your real prayer for others and for yourself. “Make this trial and tragedy a glimpse of your glory, a window into your world.”
Prayer is not a violation of the laws of nature. It's woven into God's ongoing act of creation, as fully as the tides.