Does Prayer Have Measurable Health Benefits?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the potential health benefits of prayer, exploring whether there are measurable effects on physical health attributed to prayer and spirituality. Participants examine various perspectives, including anecdotal evidence, skepticism, and the role of belief in healing, within the context of both personal experiences and research findings.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that recent research suggests measurable health benefits from prayer and spirituality, likening it to a vitamin that would be widely recommended if proven effective.
  • Others express skepticism about the validity of claims regarding prayer's effectiveness, citing anecdotal stories of miraculous recoveries as unconvincing without scientific backing.
  • A participant suggests that the benefits of prayer may largely stem from a placebo effect, where belief and state of mind contribute to recovery.
  • Concerns are raised about the implications of prayer not leading to healing, questioning whether it could suggest a negative outcome instead.
  • Several participants discuss the distinction between "vertical prayer" (praying to a deity without informing the person being prayed for) and "horizontal prayer" (praying for someone and informing them), with differing views on their potential effects.
  • Some anecdotes are shared about personal experiences with prayer and healing, prompting questions about the nature of these experiences and their implications for broader claims about prayer's effectiveness.
  • Critiques of specific studies on prayer and health are mentioned, with references to perceived flaws or biases in the research methodology.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a range of views, with no clear consensus on the effectiveness of prayer for health benefits. Some support the idea of measurable effects, while others remain skeptical and question the validity of anecdotal evidence and research claims.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the reliance on anecdotal evidence, potential biases in research studies, and the varying definitions of prayer and its intended effects. The discussion reflects a mix of personal beliefs and interpretations of scientific findings without resolving the underlying questions.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals exploring the intersection of spirituality and health, those curious about the psychological aspects of belief, and readers examining the implications of anecdotal versus empirical evidence in health-related claims.

Ivan Seeking
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Obviously, seeking supernatural help for physical ailments isn’t new. However, a flood of research in the past decade suggesting measurable health benefits from prayer and spirituality has sparked new interest in the spiritual side of medicine.

“If it were a vitamin X instead of meditation and prayer and attendance at religious activities, it would be recommended by every state’s department of health,” says Dr. John Tarpley, a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

http://www.acadiananow.com/accent/html/DA12BB0F-69CB-414B-9173-941FD6C0EA35.shtml
 
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..the power of prayer...yeah, right.
 
Prayer/faith has actually been documented to help unprecedentedly, It's more of a placebo affect though. Strong links between state of mind anf physical health have been made too. People who are visited by family, listen to music they enjoy and keep happy during recovery fron ailments/surgery almost always recover faster and better than those who are sad and alone. So if prayer gives you peace of mind and you think that some supreme power will save you, it can very easily benefit your health.
 
Before you buy into the "research has shown prayer helps the sick" meme, read A Prayer before Dying, which describes the most famous of those research studies.
 
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. I had a lady the other night tell me about a guy who was cured of aids from praying to Jesus and by the "annointed hand of xxxx" I can't remember the ladys name.

Now I'm sorry, but if you have aids, and then one day you don't, your doctors (yes, if you have aids, you probably have a doctor) will syphon all your blood out trying to find out what caused the remission.

And while this lady is a friend of mind, I didn't argue the point with her, I still don't buy it. If there were any truth to this power of prayer junk, then the only people that would ever get sick would be atheists and all us other godless heathens.
 
Since people die after praying on their death bed, wouldn't that imply that praying does the opposite of heal you?
 
The great philosopher MC Hammer once said: We got to pray just to make it today.

There's no harm done in praying, Do it. If you don't then God will punish you.
 
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Maybe this praying stuff is only a placebo effect. If you believe it hard, you can cure yourself, but you have to be very optimistic, and believe it really hard. Thats my opinion. Even the doctors admit that simetimes they give their pacients false pills(placebos) which only have some vitamins in it, and the pacients heals without eating any drug. Its just he knew that this pill will help him, pacients mind didnt know that this was a palcebo. I heard that people can be healed even by other person, if healer belives it hard, and pacient too, then they will heal.

So! Prayers just believe God so deeply, that for them it is obvious that they will heal or something.

Sorry for my english.
 
Mind and faith is a powerful healer
 
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  • #10
Originally posted by The_Professional
The great philosopher MC Hammer once said: We got to pray just to make it today.

There's no harm done in praying, Do it. If you don't then God will punish you.


Yeah, but look at the source...MC Hammer...captain bankrupt. Maybe HE should pray that he does something good. Or gains some wealth. Shows what he knows...

Stop. It's Hammer time!
 
  • #11
Two middle-aged men “knew” they were to go together to a hospital and visit a dying woman. When they arrived, the whole family and members of her church were in the waiting room next to hers. The people in the room looked on in disbelief as the attending nurse looked up, got up and ushered the two men into the woman’s room. When the men entered the room with the nurse the woman opened her eyes and smiled. The men asked her what she wanted to do, remain for a time, or go in peace? She chose to remain and the two men touched her and as the nurse watched the woman regained her color and strength. The woman then asked the nurse if she could please have something to eat. With that the nurse ran out to get a doctor and the two men quietly left.

I was one of those two men.
 
  • #12
Ok, I'll bite.

The men asked her what she wanted to do, remain for a time, or go in peace? She chose to remain and the two men touched her and as the nurse watched the woman regained her color and strength.

So, can we ask what the nature of this gift of healing you posses is? Is it granted by God? Can it be performed on command?

And if your telling the truth (please forgive my skepticism) why haven't you gone to speak to the amazing Randi to collect $1mil?

If it is true, well, what are you doing on an internet board with all the sick people in the world?
 
  • #13
Megashawn
Take another bite. Bite the bible and chew on what it says and not what religions or others say it says.

It's not what you know or don't know, but what you know that isn't so that will get you. (Will Rogers)
 
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  • #14
could non-religious people do this? you know, all men created equal and the like?
 
  • #15
Jimmy p
I just asked my girlfriend of about a year if she thought I was “religious”? She said no, not in the least bit.

Megashawn
Every question you asked is answerable by what is written. Everything has "strings" attached.
 
  • #16
uhm, no.

I've read the bible and dismiss it on its own grounds.
 
  • #17
Originally posted by selfAdjoint
Before you buy into the "research has shown prayer helps the sick" meme, read A Prayer before Dying, which describes the most famous of those research studies.
You should have mentioned that on page 5 of this article, it reveals the secret to this 'study'...the researchers cheated.
 
  • #18
Originally posted by Zero
You should have mentioned that on page 5 of this article, it reveals the secret to this 'study'...the researchers cheated.
I think (hope) that was selfAdjoint's point.
 
  • #19
Originally posted by russ_watters
I think (hope) that was selfAdjoint's point.
I'm hoping it was...but the first page or two seemed to say that she had actually made a link between prayer and recovery from disease. I thought it was worth pointing out in case someone only read the beginning of the article.
 
  • #20
Originally posted by Zero
I'm hoping it was...but the first page or two seemed to say that she had actually made a link between prayer and recovery from disease. I thought it was worth pointing out in case someone only read the beginning of the article.
Granted - I think the article was written like that for impact, but you do need to read all of it to get the point.
 
  • #21
I would make a distinction between what is called "vertical prayer" and what is called "horizontal prayer." If Jones prays a petitionary prayer to her deity that Smith be cured of some ailment supernaturally, and does not then proceed to tell Smith "I prayed for your healing," that is vertical prayer. If Jones prays for Smith, and then goes to Smith and tells him "I prayed for you," that is horizontal prayer.

As an atheist, I believe that vertical prayer between, say, Jones and the god Mithra, has absolutely zero effect on Smith. But a horizontal prayer by Jones (whether it be nominally directed toward Mithra or toward any other personal deity) could potentially produce some benefit for Smith, through a placebo effect.
 
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  • #22
Originally posted by Janitor
I would make a distinction between what is called "vertical prayer" and what is called "horizontal prayer." If Jones prays a petitionary prayer to her deity that Smith be cured of some ailment supernaturally, and does not then proceed to tell Smith "I prayed for your healing," that is vertical prayer. If Jones prays for Smith, and then goes to Smith and tells him "I prayed for you," that is horizontal prayer.

As an atheist, I believe that vertical prayer between, say, Jones and the god Mithra, has absolutely zero effect on Smith. But a horizontal prayer by Jones (whether it be nominally directed toward Mithra or toward any other personal deity) could potentially produce some benefit for Smith, through a placebo effect.
Right on! People feel better when other people treat them as though they were important.