Pastor Greg Laurie of the California-based megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship is thanking God after his hip replacement surgery was “100% successful,” continuing to defend the power of prayer as its effectiveness has been called into question following a recent school shooting.
Laurie, 72, provided an update on his health in a video and statement published on X Monday, nearly two weeks after he underwent hip replacement surgery.
“A lot of people talk down on prayer these days, but I’ve never been more thankful for it,” he wrote. “While I was recovering from hip surgery, so many of you were praying for me — and I want you to know those prayers were answered!” he added.
Laurie proclaimed “God is good” and shared an emoji of praying hands. Throughout his experience at the hospital, he said he was “surrounded by Christians, starting with the receptionist, then a nurse that called out ‘Praise the Lord, Greg!'”
Even his anesthesiologist “was a Christian,” Laurie said, recalling how the doctor who performed the surgery “asked me to pray for him.”
Laurie assure followers that he is “healing” from the surgery and can walk without using a cane or a walker.
In the video, Laurie also touched upon the remarks he made in his X post last week regarding the effectiveness of prayer following the school shooting at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last Wednesday.
“In a time where some are mocking prayer or looking at prayer with disdain, how important it is for us as Christians to rejoice in the fact that we follow a God in Heaven who loves us and hears our prayers,” he said.
Laurie, who holds stadium evangelism events attended by thousands each year through his Harvest Crusades ministry, concluded by expressing gratitude for the prayers he has received so far. He asked for additional prayers as he works towards a “full recovery.”
After a gunman killed two children and injured more than a dozen others during the shooting last week, prominant Democrats made posts that seemed to mock the power of prayer, sparking responses from Christian leaders.
Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary during the Biden administration and current MSNBC host, took to X following the tragedy to insist that “Prayer is not freaking enough.”
“Prayers does [sic] not end school shootings,” Psaki said. “[P]rayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.”
In a statement posted to X last week, Laurie maintained that “Those who criticize prayer could not be more mistaken.”
“No truer thing can be said about our nation right now than this: we need prayer,” he asserted. Laurie also addressed the implication made by Minneapolis’ Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey that prayers are ineffective because the children were praying as they got shot.
“Yes, it is heartbreaking that children were praying when they were shot in the Church in Minneapolis,” Laurie acknowledged. “[R]emember that Christ Himself prayed as He was crucified, Stephen prayed as he was martyred, and countless other courageous Christians lifted their voices to God in their final moments of life.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
