Pray and Pay

Pray and Pay?

I don’t know how many people are aware that the Healthcare Bill in the U.S. Senate includes language that would pay for medical prayers. Though not mentioning the church exactly, it would prohibit the government from discriminating against “religious and spiritual health care.” Basically, the U.S. Government would be on the hook for what are known as prayer treatments. Prayer Treatment Cost Currently included Healthcare Bill, November 3, 2009 . This is not to be confused with the Healthcare bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The U.S. Senate bill has yet to reach the floor of the Senate. The article goes on to say that private insurance companies in the past have paid anywhere from $20 to $40 a day for such treatments but this would require them to provide this coverage. This brings some questions and observations to my mind.

How did this get in the bill? It appears that Orin Hatch of Utah wanted this in the bill and John Kerry of Massachusetts agreed to allow the provision in the bill. The Christian Science Church would be affected since they are the ones such a bill is aimed at pleasing. At the same time folks in Washington were quick to add that this part of the bill was certain to be taken out before any formal vote came to the floor. Most likely this was in the bill to make it more palatable to religiously minded people. “Look Wilma, it can’t be all bad, they are going to cover our prayer sessions with the doctor.” The constitutionality of such a provision is already being questioned by opponents of this provision.

Let me state right off the bat that I believe in the power of prayer. We are told to pray without ceasing and we have numerous examples in the Bible of the Christians coming together to pray. But this is not a twenty second cousin to what this bill is talking about. Those getting paid to pray are not Christians. As stated before, this provision is aimed specifically at the Christian Science Church, and they are not the church that Jesus established. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder and therefore the foundation of this church, in 1875 claimed to be a prophet of God. I won’t take the time to write about the doctrine of this group but they are not following the Bible. In order to pray to God, a person must be in a right relationship with Him. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3.12). Instead of getting paid to pray, they should be sued for malpractice.

Another part of me questions why a righteous person would have to be paid to pray for someone else? “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5.16b). I don’t know of a single Christian that would want to be paid for praying. I would even venture to say that if a person wanted to get paid to pray, they must have a problem with their heart before God.

The sad fact is a lot of people are gullible and believe the doctrine of Mary Bakker Eddy. Others think that prayers can be bought. Such is the world we live in today. A lot of people believe money buys everything including happiness and salvation. Such is simply not true. – Dennis Tucker

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