Prayer is very complex, diverse and personal. It can be verbal or silent, done solo or with a group. One thing most would agree is that it can be a powerful tool when used to heal. Throughout the ages, prayer has been used to appeal to a higher being. And among the appeals are frequently requests for healing of the mind, body and spirit.
Myriad studies have been done to document the effectiveness of prayer. Most concluded that prayer did in fact assist in healing, but a surprising double-blind study administered by cardiologist Randolph Byrd at San Francisco General Hospital found that prayer helped in the recovery of patients who didn’t even know they were being prayed for.
Perhaps even more unbelievably, studies have shown that prayer can assist nonhumans as well – in one study, it was found that rye grass grew faster when prayed for. The studies are convincing, but most who engage in prayer don’t need data to tell them how calming and soothing it can be. So, how can prayer be combined with other types of spiritual healing for a more effective outcome?
In Mark Dahle’s book, “How to Pray for Healing (And What to Do if Nothing Happens)”, he suggests that as you pray for someone, you should ask if you can touch them on the head or shoulders, mimicking the way Jesus and his disciples healed by touch. Even if the subject of your prayer does not want to be touched, he asserts, God’s spirit can flow through them and heal them. This theory is very similar to many of the spiritual techniques that are used to heal ailments of the body and mind.
Prayer can also be used as an aid to spiritual healing on an individual level. There are many books and resources available on the subject of prayer and healing. Start by visiting your local public library and reading up on the various types of prayer and meditation healing. Many people report significant, if not nearly miraculous, results from prayer, and many health care providers are also becoming increasingly aware of the power of prayer and meditative reflection to improve healing. For example, the traditional Reiki method uses a person as a healer to conduct energy through the body of another by using his hands. That energy flows through the body and finds the areas in the body that need healing. Another is Therapeutic Touch therapy, which similarly uses energy that flows through the hands into the body, but without physical touch.
Healing Touch therapy uses a light touch to regulate the body’s energies. This method has found its way into various hospitals around the United States, used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Many healthcare facilities now have practitioners available; you may want to ask your health care provider if healing touch therapy may be appropriate for you. Some spiritual healing methods, in fact, involve sending healing energies from the practitioner’s consciousness over long distances to their recipient. In this way, it may be argued that spiritual healing and prayer are one in the same. In fact, in the United Kingdom and some surrounding areas, the term “spiritual healing” is used to describe prayer and other means of healing, both in secular and non-secular contexts. Prayer is also sometimes used as a synonym for meditation. The goal of most methods of spiritual healing therapies is to ensure that the body, mind and soul are working together to promote health and wellbeing. Therefore it follows that if prayer encourages the health of the soul, it can only help further the cause of other methods of healing.
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