In Reply to: Re: Thoughts on science & religion posted by Observer on April 01, 2006 at 12:59:14:
Press stories that cover research findings often leave out careful description of the study design. If you went to the original journal that published the study, you might find more information on how the study defined "intercessory prayer" and what congregations were involved.
The part that stood out to me was the business about not being able to set up a study that accounts for all the people in the world who pray on a daily basis for healing of the sick. There are people for whom prayer is their ministry, and they do pray fervently without ceasing for healing of persons with (name your condition). There's no way to control for this variable.