7 Healthcast: Prayer pager

Phil Busbee is used to praying for others. He's a pastor. But when complications from diabetes forced him into the hospital, this pager put him on the receiving end of hundreds of prayers.

It's all part of the prayer pager project. Where you get paged whenever family, friends or even strangers pray for you. Scott Francis, a leukemia survivor started the program.

"It helped me through it and I wanted to provide something along the same lines, only with a direct contact to the patient, so that's why I like the idea so much," Scott said.

Bruce Feldstein is a doctor and a chaplain. He says while most studies about the power of prayer have been inconclusive, he's convinced prayer makes a difference.

"These kind of positive things do affect the body's immune system so they have an effect. So it's good for the person's spirit. I've seen that directly," Bruce said.

For patients, the beeps are a vocal reminder they're not alone. Since 2003 more than 200 patients have benefitted from the project.

Related link:
Prayer Pager Project

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