The Healing Power of Prayer

Max Michael Wehrle was born with a gaping hole in his lung. Yet the congregation of his grandmother’s church swears the hole closed without surgery when they prayed devoutly for little Max.

Brenda Wickes was confined to a wheel chair, unable to walk without extreme pain. A friend asked her to pray and to make a visit to a church healing. Now, Brenda insists on walking 10,000 steps every day. She says that prayer healed her.

Stories like this abound in every faith and every culture. Are they lies? Deluded hallucinations? Not likely. Something happens every now and again in medicine that can’t be explained by science. Almost any doctor will tell you that.

Prayer is the most common companion therapy to mainstream medicine. People rely on prayer more often than they turn to acupuncture, nutritional supplements, or vitamins. Since the dawn of history, humans have sought intervention by their higher power.

Rob Stein of the Washington Post quotes Paul Parker, professor of religion at Elmhurst College near Chicago: “Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism—every religion believes in prayer for healing… Some call it prayer, some call it cleansing the mind. But in times of illness, all religions look toward their source of authority.”

Stein writes that the devout tend to be healthier, but no one is sure why. Maybe, he theorizes, healthy people are more apt to be churchgoers. Do pious people lead more wholesome lives?

“The quiet meditation and incantations of praying,” Stein continues in his Post article, “or the comfort of being prayed for, appears to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, slow the heart rate and have other potentially beneficial effects.”

Both scientific and theological experts say God can’t be explained with science—belief in God and in the efficacy of prayer is a matter of faith. Faith means we choose to believe something, though it can’t be proven or disproven. We believe the sun will rise tomorrow. We believe there’s such a thing as true love.

For centuries, doctors and scientists were sure the earth was flat and the sun moved around the earth. They didn’t know that tiny organisms—bacteria—cause illness and death, or that minute quantities of drugs can prevent illness and death. Scientists can’t prove prayer heals, but that doesn’t mean that prayer is useless.

• Christians cite the Bible: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)

• The Gayatri Mantra is a Hindu universal prayer of healing the mind, body, and emotions.

• Jewish people believe that when they give tsedakah (charity) seeking healing, they manifest a holy path for abundance, and blessings flow from a Divine Source.

In most faiths, and among most spiritual practitioners, direct intervention or instant physical cure isn’t what praying gets you. The holiest of people say that the goal is to create a stronger bond between us and our personal divine source of all blessings. In groups, our energy can pull together. When my son was serving in Iraq, I asked a congregation to send him a prayer blanket, prayed over by the whole group. I felt comforted. He was safe.

We have strength when we help each other. Through our human kindness, perhaps we can affect an energy that sets up a path of healing for the sick or suffering. I don’t know if that can repair a hole in a baby’s lung, but it couldn’t hurt, right?

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14 thoughts on “The Healing Power of Prayer

  1. Cameron ext 5412

    It’s great to see so many comments here, and to read other people’s experiences with prayers and healing. This discussion is inspiring to me and powerful, and will help with someone who is sick that I’ve been praying for. Thank you.

    Reply
  2. Vinita Sahai

    Prayers are helpful for they remind you that despite your best understanding there is a master plan for you and you have to submit to it,and that it really will be the best course for you. So just be patient in hard times,do your duty and pray.
    Vinita Sahai

    Reply
  3. misskrystal

    miss davis-I like what you came up with! Sounds like divine spirit is moving through you! Nice message. Keep the faith.

    Reed-That’s very interesting-as well as powerful-I believe it! Thanks hun.

    We can also create a virtual prayer chain-and this works. You can call people and ask them to put together a prayer chain for you-Have them call people that believe in the power of a prayer chain– this can all be done on the phone, text or email. Very powerful! I am involved in several of these right now.

    I have asked people from all faiths to pray for resolution and miracles. Like I said, in other posts, it all has power-And if you truly believe a person has a good heart, no matter what spiritual background they come from, the spirit can definitely have a positive reaction, reach masses. I believe in Inner-faith…..I call on friends from all backgrounds to pray.
    I have seen miracles unfold out of this.

    Thanks,
    Miss Krystal

    Reply
  4. emjay

    Yeah,i really believe in the healing power of prayer. Every time i pray,its like my burden has been taken away and i feel really light because i’ve put my worries in the hands of the most high.

    Reply
  5. 4me2knw

    I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia. I worked in all the prisons in Oregon. Everybody there knew I was sick. They all prayed for me. I had a morman blessing and an American Indian healing. Something worked!! I’m now 7 years out and my doctor told me I’m cancer free! This is with no treatment! I believe in the healing power of prayer! It worked for me! How wonderous life is!!

    Reply
  6. lucylu

    I believe that all thoughts, actions, and words are essentially prayer. And, in the matter of healing, as with all other issues, “thoughts are things”. Thought/prayer goes out from us, very physically, and is directed to the person we pray for, giving them strength, hope, and a desire to heal. Many times the recipient of our prayers can actually feel immediately the force of the prayer touching them. This combined with the strength, hope, and innate power to heal given to us, is truly awesome. This could only be accomplished by the prescense of a higher power. We do not need to be particularly “religious” to effect healing for ourselves or others….just the fact that one tries healing by prayer, even if in a state of desperation, is an act of faith in a higher power whether you “believe” or not. There is no denying that something wonderful and spectacular happens when we pray. I have experienced spiritual healing many times in my life and I believe that almost everyone you talk to can give accounts of healing through prayer. When there is no where to go, no one who can help…..remember, we are created in the image of “God” who is The Supreme Healer and being created in His image, we are indowed with the power to heal. Christ reminds us that we have that power when He said, “Things that I have done, you will do, and greater.”

    Reply
  7. Klara Moody

    I am a deep believer in the power of Prayer.Its proven over and over again during my lifetime.For
    instance .My Husband passed suddendly away 5 years ago.It was prayer which kept me sane and..
    alive after his passing.And it is still helping me and also my friendsEvery night no matter what,will I pray
    at his urn and picture,but not only for him but also for my friends ,the sick,dying,thank in prayer
    for my life,guidance along my path anything.In cases of need I light a candle with a prayer for that
    cause…..and I trust it helps.Otherwise I am a lively down to earth person…but there you are..
    thats me.complex person you might call it.but I would defend this believe to ends degree.

    Reply
  8. latifa4

    Hi everyone
    what everybody is saying about the power of prayer is true,who do you pray to? who do you ask help from?of course it’s GOD.if you have faith in GOD and you keep asking him for help he would never desappoint you,so the key for your prayer is to believe in GOD.the science can’t proove that,the proof is in GOD’s books.
    may GOD bless you

    Reply
  9. dazyblue

    I believe that, in a lot of cases, the energies from the people that are praying are what actually heals the person and also that it is psychological. The person knows that all these people are praying, and consciously or subconsciously fights off the disease or heals oneself.

    Reply
  10. maggiedavis86

    We all have our own beliefs and those who seek higher power seem to have an outcome of higher results…
    Well speaking from personal experiences, even the worst of ppl pray and then that higher faith works with them.
    BTW i don’t know where that just came from perhaps a msg for someone who needs faith!

    Reply
  11. psychic reed ext.5105

    Prayer / meditation / cleansing – these are very important whether or not one believes in a specific higher power. While science may not have proven the existence of a God, it has proven the benefits of meditation. As little as 5 minutes of meditation per day has shown to decrease stress, benefiting the immune system, elevating one’s mood, and decreasing pain.

    In a study done at Yale, meditation proved to increase the thickness of gray matter in certain areas of the brain and it also slowed down age related deterioration of the brain.

    Meditation (prayer) need not be a complicated mystical process either. There are many books and websites that teach simple meditation techniques – and chances are that if you ask your psychic, he or she can tell you how best to begin so that you can tap into the healing power of this healthy practice quickly.

    Reed
    ext. 5105

    Reply
  12. Gina Rose ext.9500Gina Rose ext.9500

    No matter the religion or spiritual path, I firmly believe in the awesome power of prayer. It is not to be under estimated.

    Blessed Be )O(
    Gina Rose ext.9500

    Reply
  13. Jacqueline

    Hi Taryn,
    I have seen such profound results in prayer, also in prayer circles these are most powerful, many times when someone needs extra help we set a special times aside and everyone in the circle will say a prayer, power in numbers, I do also believe that prayer keeps you in a healthy, peaceful state of mind.

    Blessings and Big Hugs!
    Jacqueline x9472

    Reply
  14. misskrystal

    What a very lovely article and so true-THANKS!

    Every time I give to charity, I say a prayer, because the Old and New Testament both stress giving to charity-it’s also a release-and so good for the soul…

    I had a nice conversation, with Danni, at our Xmas party-She said to me, “You heal yourself every day.” I knew exactly what she was picking up on-she is right. It’s the power of faith and prayer.

    Please also pray for the people who have wronged you, pray for them to be a better person and forgive them. And mean it! Watch your life change! And yes, for the better!

    God Bless,
    Miss Krystal

    Reply

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