Be Careful What You Pray For...You Just Might Get It

by Larry Dossey

Through fascinating true stories, case histories, and solid scientific evidence, a physician illustrates the different kinds of negative prayer, explores why they exist, and how many of us unconsciously wield them against ourselves and others. 75,000 first printing. Tour.

Genres: Self Help, Spirituality

259 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 1997

About the author

Larry Dossey is a physician and author who propounds the importance for healing of prayer and spirituality. He combines science and prayer to advance the cause of healing the sick.

Larry Dossey studied medicine, graduating from University of Texas at Austin & the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 1967. While attending medical school, he became interested in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Taoism. Severe, recurring migraines prompted him to study biofeedback and meditation in hopes of finding a means of controlling the headaches. He began to practice meditation regularly, while remaining skeptical about the type of praying he had learned in his youth. After graduation, Dossey went on to a distinguished medical career, which included service in Vietnam as a battalion surgeon and residencies at the Veterans Administration Hospital and Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Dossey's curiosity about the connections between science and religion prompted him to begin researching medical studies focused on the power of prayer to aid healing. In the 1980s, Dossey began writing books to document and explain his findings.

Dossey's 1993 book, Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, made it to the New York Times bestseller list and sold close to 150,000 copies in the first three years after its publication.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Be Careful What you Pray For...You Just Might Get It, Dossey, ties prayer to science and speaks like a storyteller, not an M.D. In his other works, he has talked about the effectiveness of prayer. In this one, he talks about negative prayer and how the power a prayer can harm.

I originally read this book during the years that I was a lay minister, and in that environment, I read it with a different lens. Simply, I was curious about the power of prayer. However, I picked it back up today looking because Dossey gives many scientific examples. He also talks within this book about Navajo medicine at some length. I was scanning for those references. Nevertheless, I was more intrigued with this book now than I was when I first read it. Written in 1998, it devotes whole chapters to the Hawaiian Death Prayer (ana-ana) and discusses other rituals within its covers. He concludes with an excellent chapter on methods of protection.

This time around, in this quick re-read of this book, I couldn't help but think of the current discourse around the law of attraction and power of intention throughout every page of this book. Seems as though it was originally there, in a subtle yet strong manner.

[Wilma Reiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is well known that prayer can help a person heal, whether they know of it or not. But can negative prayer affect another person as well?
What is prayer anyway? According to Larry Dossey, feelings, wishes, thoughts, even attitude are a kind of prayer. Can we affect the world and one another with our prayers/thoughts? If so, how easy is it to harm somebody with negative prayer? Apparently very easy if the receiving person "plays along". Expectation and belief, conscious or unconscious, are the placebos of our life.
It's also interesting that Larry Dossey includes self image in the definition of prayer.

[Kirby Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

Science meets spirituality and much more. Many studies and events are examined. So glad I read this...Dr. Dossey does not claim to have all of the answers but he sure does bring up some good data and give the reader some damn cool stuff to ponder.

[Emiliee · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was really interested at first, then it had parts i cared for and parts that made me want to return the book because i was so bored. in the end i did "finish" but the last 30 pages were a mix of fast read and skimming because i stopped caring and just wanted this to be done lol. it does have very interesting points and things i wish some people understood about the concept of prayer. while it is very christian based it does bring other cultures and faiths into view to discuss it and i did enjoy that. interviews with shamans and healers from other places also showed the author was really trying to get down to the concept of prayer as a whole and not just within christianity. while i would not really recommend to anyone it is a book that would have a very select audience and is more of a reference book than anything. i didn't hate it but i didn't love, won't read again but 50/50 on if it was worth the read

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good doctorine

[Maureen Weiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review I posted below is not my own, even though I completely agree with it. I don't know if the person who did write it wants to be credited as the author, so I'm not going to draw attention to her. I did not get her permission, but since I'm not writing this for any profit, I think that's OK.

"It is well known that prayer can help a person heal, whether they know of it or not. But can negative prayer affect another person as well?
What is prayer anyway? According to Larry Dossey, feelings, wishes, thoughts, even attitude are a kind of prayer. Can we affect the world and one another with our prayers/thoughts? If so, how easy is it to harm somebody with negative prayer? Apparently very easy if the receiving person "plays along". Expectation and belief, conscious or unconscious, are the placebos of our life.
It's also interesting that Larry Dossey includes self image in the definition of prayer."

[T R · Rating 3 out of 5]

We bought a couple of books from my second hand bookstore near our office and this one caught my attention. It is well written with a lot of proofs of the effects of prayers both from the medical and scientific communities. Nice read, but as I always say - the facts in the bible should always be considered when applying any principles in any book written by man.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I didn't get to finish this one, the drawback of an e-book on library loan, I think I will go back to it later.