Many people agree that prayer is a central feature of spiritual life. But what is prayer? Scientific and Pastoral Perspectives on Intercessory Prayer: An Exchange Between Larry Dossey, M.D., and Health Care Chaplains explores common questions and concerns about intercessory prayer from several different points of view. Chaplains, priests, ministers, and clergy it, the health care profession will learn how prayer is examined from sources other than traditional Christian views, such as parapsychology. Evoking questions on whether prayer is a state of mind, an attitude, or a ritual, you will learn what prayer means to some chaplains and to their ministry and how prayer can make drastic changes in the lives of your parishioners, patients, and their families.

Written by eight chaplains, the articles in this text are in response to an essay by Larry Dossey, a nationally known physician who speaks and writes about prayer. The contributors to Scientific and Pastoral Perspectives on Intercessory Prayer discuss his points of view on intercessory prayer, which are based on quantum physics. You will learn if this area of physics can make a difference in how you practice your faith, how you worship, and what you think about or expect from prayer. Scientific and Pastoral Perspectives on Intercessory Prayer examines several other topics related to prayer, including:

• -- determining whether or not intercessory prayer is truly different from other methods of meditation
• -- exploring the relationship between intercessory prayer and meditative or praise prayer
• -- linking prayers and their results to the expectations or intentions of those who engage in them
• -- differentiating between anintercession and a wish
• -- deciding for yourself what constitutes evidence or proof when discussing the aspects of prayer
• -- how our opinion of prayer relates to how we think about the universe and about God