Prayer and Physical Healing
Directed and Non-Directed Prayer Can Assist in Curing Disease
Research shows that non-directed prayer tends to be more effective than directed prayer although both can be successful. What is the effect of an "attitude of gratitude"?
Are healthy people always spiritual? No. There are healthy atheists. Is it possible for saints to fall ill and die? Yes. Then what is the relationship between spirituality and health? Swami Rama wrote in A Practical Guide to Holistic Health, “The mental aspect of health is more important than the physical, and the spiritual aspect of health is of greater importance than either of these.” How does the spiritual impact the physical?
An “Attitude of Gratitude”
The relationship between prayer and healing is not linear; it is not as simple as saying that a sincere prayer will always bring healing. Dr. Larry Dossey, in the book, Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, writes that prayerfulness allows us to transcend the physical and attain peace. He says that this prayerfulness includes an attitude of acceptance that transcends passivity. It is not a giving-up or a hopelessness but an active “attitude of gratitude,” The ability to find gratitude during physical distress appears to be a contributing factor in many physical healings.
Prayer For a Specific Healing
All religions pray for healing and it can be assumed that they all want to pray effectively. Dossey discusses the extensive research by the Spindrift organization in Salem, Oregon, which found that non-directed prayer, as in, “Thy will be done.” was more effective than directed prayer, as in, “God heal my cancer.” The research involved praying for plants in carefully controlled experiments so as to remove the variables that might have complicated studies done with humans or animals.
While that research would suggest that non-directed prayer is more effective, most people are familiar with cases where people prayed directly for a healing and the healing took place as asked. Very few religious people would deny that directed prayer has effect. The question of directed versus non-directed prayer is therefore not one that has a black-and-white answer. Both forms of prayer work. What the Spindrift experiments found was merely a greater tendency for non-directed prayer to be successful.
How Should We Pray?
It is possible to combine the two, to directly pray for the healing of a disease but also to pray for gratitude and acceptance of whatever comes our way. Regardless of a person’s religious beliefs, sometimes in the peace that comes from such prayer there is a healing because the calm acceptance reduces the stress that is behind many diseases. At least if the patient doesn’t heal the acceptance is there nonetheless. Here is a prayer from the Bahá’í writings that takes a balanced approach.
Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (Bahá’í Prayers, p. 85)
References
- Sweet, W., A Journey Into Prayer, Xlibris Corp., 2007.
- Dossey, L., Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, HarperCollins, 1993.
