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Does Prayer Help the Healing Process?
Have you ever prayed when you or a loved one was in a dire situation? So many people turn to prayer in times of need, and now we are beginning to see scientific support for its power.
Prayer and meditation have been used for thousands of years to support healing and spirituality. Our ancestors believed in the healing power of connecting with our inner space as a way to connect with a higher power, spirituality, and healing.
According to a 2016 study by Barna, a research company that specializes in spirituality, 66% of Americans believe that prayer can heal.1
Documented Self-Healing with Meditation or Prayer
So, does science back the ancient practice of prayer as a way to heal?
The short answer to this question is yes, but the evidence is still very fuzzy! There is plenty of science on both sides of the prayer-healing aisle that I will attempt to share with you.
There have been numerous reviews and studies of prayer or distance healing for medical conditions.
A 2009 meta-analysis published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry evaluated 23 studies involving 2,774 patients. In this review, distance healing included spiritual healing, prayer, and any form of healing from a distance resulting from a conscious act intended to benefit another person.2
The researchers reported that 57%, or 13, of the studies evaluated yielded a statistically significant result in favor of distance healing2
The researchers found evidence that meditation and prayer had the following benefits:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Reduces heart rate
- Alters melatonin and serotonin levels
- Boosts immune function
- Decreases reactive oxygen species or free radicals
- Reduces anxiety or pain
- Boosts self-esteem
- Boosts mood
- Enhances quality of life2
See also Mantra: The Power of a Word
In a related review of distance healing, where half of the 90 studies evaluated were done in clinical settings and the other half in a laboratory, 71% of the clinical studies and 62% of the laboratory studies reported positive healing effects.2
One of the studies evaluated in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry paper looked at 219 women from Seoul, Korea, with infertility concerns. The study group that received prayer had almost twice as many pregnancies as the group that did not receive prayer.2
Finally, a group of primates called bush babies were evaluated to determine the effect of prayer on wound healing. Having prayer applied to primates who didn’t know what was happening removed the possibility of a placebo effect. The group of prayed-for primates showed a greater reduction in time of wound healing as well as a boost in immune markers.2
Note: While the results here show a modest healing effect from prayer and distance healing, there are many studies from hospitals that do not show a healing effect.2
Quantum Physics Explains the Power of Prayer
As far as understanding how distance healing with prayer may work, it’s safe to say that Newtonian physics hasn’t been able to explain it, but quantum physics couldbe getting closer.
The mechanism that describes it best is the Hawthorne Effect, which states that a healing effect from prayer may result from the act of observation or measurement.
This is in line with experiments in quantum physics that have repeatedly proven that observation changes the observed—unlimited by distance.
See also What is Quantum Consciousness?
Biophotons: The Quantum Answer?
Emerging science is exploring the effect of intention on the body’s release of biophotons, known as ultraweak photon emissions (UPE). These photons, or particles of electromagnetic radiation, are 1,000 times too small to be seen with the naked eye, but have been found to carry information from cell to cell, and into our DNA, and can be manipulated by intention.3, 4
Einstein discovered that photons can interact with each other instantaneously over great distances, which may be the quantum-based mechanism for distance healing. This effect, called spooky action at a distance, was discovered in the 1930s.
Recommended: 53810 The body’s release of UPEs, or biophotons, has been found to be affected by the observer as well. Meditation, for example, which is the observation of oneself, has been shown to change the output of UPEs and reduce the amount of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) in the human body.2, 3
We are constantly emitting biophotons, and our skin has been found to be a UPE-trapping system, suggesting that humans both emit and receive information-carrying biophotons.3
Could this new research be the explanation for distance healing or prayer? Stay tuned as we dig deeper into the power of our Inner Space!
See also Self-Healing and the Power of Awareness in Ayurveda
Disclaimer: While this emerging research is fascinating and offers exciting potential for future medical application, to date there is no replicated evidence that a healing effect from prayer or distance healing can be reproduced in a clinical setting. Prayer and distance healing should not be used as a substitute for conventional medical treatment. Always consult your medical practitioner before embarking on any course of treatment for a known or suspected medical condition.
This story is part of a 6-article series on conscious healing and the restorative power or awareness, intention, and energy medicine.
Self-Healing and the Power of Awareness in Ayurveda
Quantum Biophotons: The Science of Healing Prayer
Vedic Healing and the Power of Intention
Ayurvedic Techniques to Unleash the Power of Quantum Healing
What is Quantum Consciousness?
Quantum Physics Meets Vedic Science
On the flip-side, could bad intentions cause negative effects to someone at a distance?
I can hear your concern Allison. What comes to mind for me is the ancient Voodoo tradition. However, my understanding with that (think of images of someone sticking pins into a “doll” that is supposed to represent the person who you want to “curse”) is that it was essential for the Voodoo practitioner to let the person know they were doing this. This, of course, evoked a huge amount of fear in the person and, I believe, that is what caused the “harm” to occur. If you are wondering if someone is cursing you, take back your power and send out loving vibes to that person (as they are obviously severely wounded). Like a running faucet – you can’t stuff anything up it – when we send out love, I believe, it is so much more powerful than anything that can reach us. Love is what protects us and clears our mind and heart. It creates an environment in which we can be and do and is so much more wonderful than being controlled by fear, hate and suspicion!
I just want to share that voudou is a healing religion. Those that practice negative energy and magic are called Bokor’s and this is a subgroup of voudou. Hollywood contributes greatly to this negative representation, to our detriment.
When you spoke about the lab experiment, Dr.. D., you said something like, “…proving their minds could affect and move the culture,” referring to the virus in the petri dish.
So obviously there is potent science to show OUR MINDS, JOINED TOGETHER IN AN INTENTION (sacred or not!) HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WHOLE CULTURAL, and the Cultural Conditioning that is causing the Great Divide. As a political activist, and a member of healing prayer councils, this ipost s very meaningful to me, super-charging my Faith. Thank you so much, Dr D!
Praying to the one and only true God, our Heavenly Father, is the prayer we were born to pray. That is where real power is.
Thank you John Douillard . I’ve been loving your direction. Touchy subject and I love you sometimes exclamations like…” ANYWAYS” ?
I’m a firm believer, meditation is praying. There is no difference. Meditate/pray from the place of love , acceptance, compassion and send it out or bath in it and there will be benefits ??
I’m so excited about these articles on quantum physics and UPEs! They are confirming ancient yogic science. I’m very inspired now to learn more and will be doing more research on this subject.
Thank you very much for sharing this information.
Some of the previous comments seem to be confusing your article with religion. Religion is simply a belief system and if one believes in that system, then one manifests that system. But quantum physics and our human physiology is not religious. So please, please continue to publish more information in the area of QP, etc! The world NEEDS this information. You Rock Dr. D!
Yes, beautifully said. I am keenly awaiting the other articles in this series.
Profoundly engaging.
Religion is not a belief system. It’s the first place to start. There’s a God who made us and the world. This thing called life did not just happen. Jesus is that proof, the Gospel’s are proof as well.
Very interesting cross section of faith traditions in these comments. 🙂
I believe prayer, meditation, focused intention, affirmations etc are all part of the same ability we all share.
We humans can tap into our cosmic collective energy, either consciously or even unconsciously. With either positive or negative emotions and thoughts.
We’re all in this dance of creation together!
My daily question to myself is:
“ In this moment, am I creating heaven or hell for myself and others? “
I’m aware this is a dualistic construct. Duality is part and parcel of this dimension so it’s useful to know how to work within its parameters.
Great article Dr. John!!! Additionally while science is amazing and tremendous if we are honest with ourselves science and medicine will admitt the more we discover the more we realize how little we know. I realize some may scoff but I have experienced the power prayer first hand. As a 14 year old, in middle of my baseball season I was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkins Lymphoma which is cancer of the lymph system. By the time it was discovered it had spread from my upper body into my lower body with enlarged tumors at several sites. It was 1974 and treatment methods were no where near what they are today, the doctor scheduled me for a biopsy to confirm his diagnosis and told my mother that if it turned out to be Hodgkins I may only have 6 month to live because it had spread so widely. My mother took me to a Pastor who had a healing ministry three days before my scheduled biopsy. At the end of the service the pastor asked if anyone needed healing and I went up. As he prayed for me I felt a burning in my arm which was the site of the original tumor, the burning soon went down my arm and all throughout my entire body. I ran to my mom after and said “Mom I’ve been healed”
She was hopeful but obviously still very worried. Three days later as I laid on the pre-op table before being wheeled to surgery the doctors did a final pre-check. As they examined me they could no longer find the lump which had been nearly the size of half a golf ball on my inner arm just above the elbow. They questioned me saying ” Are you sure this is the arm?” “Could it be down a little further or up further?” They were unable to find it through external probing. I was taken into surgery, had the biopsy and met with the doctors the next day. Their answer…. “This is the strangest thing we have ever seen, it is in fact stage 3 hodgkins lymphoma” “But the cancer cells are dying and shrinking, it is in fact a dead tumor.” I was released and further blood work and exams were done but I never received any further treatment for the cancer.
I think it is important to note that I did everything the doctors asked and would have accepted treatment if required, faith should be foremost but God also uses the medical profession and people like Dr. John who understands the hardwired healing abilities of the body and mind to repair itself……we truly are fearfully and wonderfully created!!!