I’m a Doctor. Here’s What I Know About the Healing Power of Prayer

I went up to the altar after service ended to ask a minister to pray with me. So as the minister was praying, I was praying right along until the minister said in a kind voice, ‘be quiet and just receive.’ I calmly did as I was instructed, my hands raised toward heaven. When prayer was over, I walked away feeling better, but my gait was unsteady. Oh, but I knew I was healed.

I quickly learned that healing may be immediate or gradual. A friend had told me that even if the pain returned, don’t say that the pain was back, but continue to profess that I was healed. The next afternoon, when the pain returned, I took the medicine the doctor prescribed and continued to take it as long as needed. Adhering to one’s health care provider’s instructions is important. However, I refused to verbally acknowledge pain, but continued to say that I was healed, and within less than two weeks, that pain was completely gone and never returned! That was more than a decade ago.

Well, what is prayer? Prayer is spiritual communication with a higher power. Such interaction with the Creator allows us to rely on someone who has no limitations. I like to be able to be “real” with God and tell Him that I don’t have all the answers and that I need His help!

Those are the sentiments of the believer in me. But evidence suggests potential health benefits of prayer:

A sense of calm Certain kinds of prayer might complement treatment of anxiety. In a 2023 literature review published in the Journal of Religion and Health, a Baylor University researcher writes, “Painting with broad strokes, prayer appears to be associated with better mental health if it facilitates and reinforces a positive relationship with a perceived divine other (God) through praise or belief that one’s prayers are answered.”

Positive outlook Writing in Scientific American, David H. Rosmarin PhD, who is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an international expert on spirituality and mental health, observed, “My own research has demonstrated that a belief in God is associated with significantly better treatment outcomes for acute psychiatric patients. And other laboratories have shown a connection between religious belief and the thickness of the brain’s cortex, which may help protect against depression.”

Stress reduction according to an article published by the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing at the University of Minnesota, “negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can create chronic stress, which upsets the body's hormone balance, depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system. Chronic stress can actually decrease our lifespan.” Author Karen Lawson, MD, a former faculty member, confirms that “Poorly managed or repressed anger (hostility) is also related to a slew of health conditions, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, and infection.”

Dr. Rosmarin, in a 2020 Wall Street Journal article, noted that prayer and spiritual meditation have similar effects and result in calming the nervous system and help in controlling anger.

Pain management A 2020 literature review published in The Journal of Religion and Health noted that “Prayer may be considered as an effective adjunctive therapy for pain…” Adjunctive therapy is “another treatment used together with the primary treatment. Its purpose is to assist the primary treatment,” according to the National Cancer Institute. Researchers are investigating ways to better measure how and when prayer may be effective for pain management.

Have you or a loved one experienced prayer as a healing energy?  Has prayer made a difference in your physical or mental wellbeing? Please let us know in the comments section.