POWER OF PRAYER: Bodily Health

It is amazing to see the power of prayer on our physical bodies.  We see that prayer has two main benefits concerning our bodies: 1.) Health benefits; 2.) Emotional state. 

When people claim prayer only affects the individual, the first example is often for their own health.  According to WebMD, "In fact, people who pray tend to get sick less often, as separate studies conducted at Duke, Dartmouth, and Yale universities show. Some statistics from these studies:

• Hospitalized people who never attended church have an average stay of three times longer than people who attended regularly.
• Heart patients were 14 times more likely to die following surgery if they did not participate in a religion.
• Elderly people who never or rarely attended church had a stroke rate double that of people who attended regularly.
• In Israel, religious people had a 40% lower death rate from cardiovascular disease and cancer."

Many non-religious individuals recognize these benefits and find their "quiet time" to still be helpful to their blood pressure and other physical ailments.

Obviously, these health benefits related to stress are connected to the person's state of mind.  In this way, prayer also helps the individual's emotional state.  Many make this claim because of the self-reflective nature of meditation and focus.  According to the online health magazine Waking Times, during meditation, the frontal and parietal lobes, as well as the thalamus and reticular formation all slow down.  Because of the slowing of all this activity, the brain slows down it's constant state of planning and emotions.  It focuses incoming sensory data.  Finally, your brain softens its "alert" signals so it is less alarmed by its surroundings.  The article continues to ask, "Could an increase in mindfulness, happiness, care, and empathy for others make an impact on our world? How about reduced stress and better memory?" Many non-religious people assert that meditation can help people be happier and more focused, as the study shows.

This science also agrees with the scriptural teaching found in Philippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

To me, these studies are very encouraging, in fact, because they show us that our Creator designed us for prayer and designed prayer for our health benefit, happiness, and morale.