10 Benefits Of Prayer

Religious beliefs and activities can have a profound impact on our mental and physical well being by reducing stress, improving resistance to diseases, enhancing memory and mental function, and helping us to lead longer lives.—Andrew Newberg is a founder of neurotheology, the study of the relationship between spiritual phenomena and the human brain.


Some people are sick and have pain, and it gets the best of them. Not me. Praying eases the pain. Sometimes I pray when I am in deep, serious pain; I pray, and all at once the pain gets easy.”
Those are the words of an 83-year-old woman (called “Mrs. A” to maintain confidentiality),
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, where doctors marveled at her amazing
resilience.

Mrs. A suffered from goiter, arthritis, diabetes, and a rare type of nerve damage, possibly
that triggered pain all over her body and weakness in her legs. Medications, acupuncture, and massage brought no relief yet she lived alone, without assistance from a homemaker or nurse, and
remained in good spirits.

As well as taking care of herself, Mrs. A regularly attended church services and prayer groups, and
helped others in charitable work with the sick. She boggled her doctors’ minds.
In the journal article, one of them wrote:“She is a very impressive patient in that, throughout the 15 years that I have known her, she has continued to live with a chronic, progressive,
and debilitating illness and has done so with incredible spirit, particularly in light of the lack of traditional medicine to offer her a lot of hope. She relies on her belief in God and her own prayers to
get her through some really tough times.”

What Scientists Don’t Understand While Mrs. A’s doctors recognized the power of her religious beliefs, they were left with more questions than answers about how religion affects health. Other scientists have tried to find some answers through research.

One type of study has examined intercessionary prayer — the prayers of strangers at a distance — to
see whether these influence the subjects of the prayer, people who are suffering from some type of
illness. There is no direct contact between these individuals and the ill people have no knowledge of the prayers for their welfare.

To test the outcome, researchers have also observed another, similar group of ill people for whom
prayers are not being said (a “control group”), and compared changes in health to see if prayer had an impact. Some of these studies have found that those for whom prayers were said fared better, while others have not, but that doesn’t mean prayer doesn’t help people. Ultimately, this type of research is flawed, according to Wendy Cadge, Ph.D., a sociologist and associate professor at Brandeis University in Boston who studies the role of religion in healthcare.

“Prayer happens for all kinds of people all the time, even though many of us don’t know we’re being prayed for,” she says. “And in lots of religious organizations, there are prayers for groups of people.”

In other words, scientists’ assumptions that no one is praying for people in a control group are unrealistic and impossible to confirm. “Scientists tried their best to study something that may be beyond their best tools,” says Cadge. Perhaps more important, she says, is the fact that there is no need for
science to validate religious beliefs.


Many studies have looked at how health and well-being are influenced by having spiritual beliefs, praying, and attending religious services, and these have found a wide range of benefits.

1) Becoming More Forgiving
Two studies at Florida State University found that praying for a person
increases your ability to forgive that person. In one study, people who prayed
for a romantic partner harbored fewer vengeful thoughts and emotions and
were more ready to forgive and move on after a conflict.
In another study, men and women prayed for the well-being of a close
friend, daily for four weeks, while others simply thought positive thoughts
about their friend. Those who prayed were more willing to forgive, not only
the friend but other people in general. Forgiveness is associated with better
overall health and satisfaction with life.
source: Psychological Science

2) Achieving Goals More Effectively
Researchers at the University of Miami analyzed more than eight
decades of research and found that prayer and other religious practices
improve the ability to pursue and achieve long-term goals. Prayer affects
regions of the brain that improve self-control, and people who view their
goals as sacred put more effort and energy into attaining them.
source: Psychological Bulletin

3) Living a Longer Life
Numerous studies have found that people who are religious are likely to
live a longer life. For example, an analysis of 42 studies with a total of more
than 125,000 people found that in addition to private prayer, attending
religious services, and being involved in other church activities predicted a
longer and healthier lifespan.
source: Health Psychology

4) Coping Better With Breast Cancer
Praying in an online support group helped breast cancer patients
experience less stress, have lower levels of negative emotions, and experience
greater well-being, according to a study of 97 patients at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications
Research. In addition, belief in an afterlife reduced fear of death.
source: PsychoOncology

5) Protecting Teens Against Drugs
Teens who view religion as a meaningful part of their lives are half as
likely to use drugs, compared to non-religious teens — especially during
stressful times, such as having an unemployed parent. So concluded
researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who studied 1,182
adolescents in grades 7 through 10.
source: Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

6) Recovering From Abusive Relationships
Prayer helps victims of abusive relationships to recover a positive view
of themselves and reduces emotional pain, according to in-depth interviews
with dozens of abuse victims by a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. In addition, people who are religious are less likely to suffer
from post-traumatic stress disorder after being victims of violence in a
relationship.
source: Social Psychology Quarterly

7) Reducing Financial Strain
A study of more than 800 older people found that faith and attendance
at religious services offset the emotional toll of financial strain. Researchers
at the University of Michigan found that prayer increases gratitude which, in
turn, reduces the negative impact of financial difficulties.
source: The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

8) Reducing Genetic Risk for Depression
Adults with the highest risk of depression, due to a family history of
the condition, are one-tenth as likely to suffer from depression if religion
is important in their lives and they frequently attend religious services,
according to a study at Columbia University. Those who are religious
and at lower risk of depression are at least one-fourth as likely to develop
depression as their non-religious peers.
Numerous other studies show that prayer and other religious practices
reduce or alleviate depression, with or without genetic risk.
source: The American Journal of Psychiatry

9) Increasing Happiness and Financial Satisfaction
A University of South Florida study of 1,413 adults found that those who
are the most religious, in terms of prayer with a positive focus, attendance at
church services, and using their faith to deal with day-to-day problems in a
positive way, are happier and more satisfied with their financial situation.
source: Journal of Religion and Health

10) Improving Recovery From Heart Surgery
People who pray with a positive, hopeful attitude as an ongoing part
of their lives prior to undergoing heart surgery, experience less depression
and anxiety afterwards, both in the short and long term, according to studies
at the University of Washington Health Sciences and the University of
Pittsburgh. However, those who pray only after surgery or take a negative
view do not experience the same benefits.
Another study, at the University of Michigan, tracked 151 patients for a
year and found that private prayer significantly improved mood and overall
state of being.
source: The Gerontologist


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