Prayer’s Scientific Power

The mind body connection is full of powerful and amazing implications. Dr. Herbert Benson who founded the BHI, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine is a professor at Harvard Medical School. The institute is a part of Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Benson believes physical health is highly influenced by behaviors, feelings and thoughts, as well as these same behaviors, feelings and thoughts being influenced by physical symptoms. Another of life’s amazing cycles revealed.

We still don’t have a concrete understanding of how a person’s behaviors, feelings and thoughts are able to affect the development of disease as well as the body’s ability to recover. Yes, we are aware of the fact some people have the ability to change their own thoughts with prayer with seemingly miraculous results such as the reversal of a terminal condition. However we still have to work on discovering exactly how these beliefs and thoughts affect our body. We do know that mind and body communicate constantly. What our mind experiences, thinks or perceives allows our brain to send such information to the rest of our body directly and steadily.

For centuries people have been influencing there health, as well as the health of others through prayer. This mind body approach towards medicine works at teaching patients to change their thought patterns, reduce stress and changing their behaviors to remove any negativity, all while embracing their beliefs to better control and prevail over any illness.

Among all of the religions; Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, or Christian, there is a commonality. They all hold deep belief systems in reference to prayer for healing. Online prayer groups, healing rooms and community prayer groups are readily available for everyone all over the world. An article published in the Washington Post says, “Surveys have found that perhaps half of Americans regularly pray for their own health, and at least a quarter have others pray for them.”

It’s not only the religious who promote prayer for an alteration of health. Phenomena of varying kinds have been cited in quantum physics whereby particles from distant locations can affect the behavior of others in somewhat mysterious ways. Therefore, having people praying for you conceivably propels energy towards you which could affect your state of health.

In addition to citations made in the domain of quantum physics, there have been an abundance of various studies conducted over the years which find have found a strong parallel between prayer and health. Theories are being tested continuously as the reasons for this are still unclear.

In one study based at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. consisting of 990 cardiac patients, researchers discovered prayer improved health considering a conducted at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., researchers found prayer improved health based on an amalgamation of scores developed by the researchers for this study.

Heritage.org conducted an interview with Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a tenured Duke University associate professor of psychiatry, an associate professor of medicine, director and founder of the Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health at Duke University. He cites during this interview several smaller studies. “(In these studies)You find a connection between religious involvement and immune and endocrine function; in five of seven studies, the religious experience lower mortality from cancer; in 14 of 23, they have significantly lower blood pressure; in 11 of 14, they have lower mortality; and in 12 of 13, clergy mortality is lower.”

It is without doubt we can see the significance prayer has on our health as well as our mortality. As scientists work to better define the parameters and work with control groups, we’ll continually gain insight on the connection between mind and body. Until this occurs, grasp the power to know for a fact how our thoughts and beliefs directly affect not only our own health and mortality, but those of others too.