Are There Any Benefits in Prayer

What good does praying do? Are there any benefits from it? Ask anyone who pray regularly and often, and they will invariably attest to benefits, usually in the realms of physical and psychological health. Indeed, many will be able to provide personal testimony to back up their beliefs. These anecdotal examples may be completely true in every way. However, the skeptics need to see empirical evidence from scientific studies. For them faith alone is not enough.

In order to satisfy the skeptics and to reinforce the faith of the religious, numerous scientific studies have been made by several religions individually. Those studies included the use of blind test groups receiving prayer, control groups receiving none, believing subjects praying for themselves and several other permutations. Studies covering members of three of the largest worldwide religious groups: Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, as well as non-believers, have been almost identical in the reported outcomes.

The patients were covered by prayer of any type – self, anonymous, intercessory (being prayed for by others) and in various formats. Those patients displayed quicker recovery from operations or illnesses, with fewer complications and less medication than patients not covered with prayer.

Members of the various religious groups were not surprised to hear that patients benefited from fervent and frequent prayer. Perhaps just relying on prayer can give one the ability to be healed in this physical body. Like chicken soup, it can't hurt.