A study by psychology professor Kenneth I Pargament showed that hospital Patients who believed God had ‘abandoned’ them were much more likely to die within two years than those who kept their trust in divine power.
“It’s clear that religion has a darker side,” Pargament warns. “It can be a source of solutions but also a source of problems.”
Another top academic expert on religion, psychiatry professor Harold G Koenig at Duke University in North Carolina, backed the findings: “It’s normal to ask God, ‘Why is this happening to me? Did I do something wrong? Why aren’t you responding to my prayers?’ All these are normal feelings but people work through them usually, and people who can’t, who get stuck there, they are going to have worse health outcomes.”
If you are suffering doubts like these, perhaps because of illness or loss, please understand that what Professor Koenig says is true: it’s totally normal. Everyone’s faith is tested. If you didn’t sometimes question your faith in God, it wouldn’t be worth very much, would it? The things we take for granted mean much less than the things we care about fervently.
When my faith wavers, I rely on a simple prayer. I stop asking for the usual blessings, such as health and happiness for myself and my family. Instead, I pray for strength.
Whatever life is going to send, I know I shall need strength to see it through. It may be good, it may be hard, but it won’t be easy, for life never is
This prayer has never failed me. It reassures me that God is listening, and that I can draw on that divine power whenever I renew my faith and pray.