Prayer Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Efficacy of prayer healing=== {{main|Efficacy of prayer}} [[File:Healing "laying on of hands" ceremony in the Pentecostal Church of God. Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky. - NARA - 541337.jpg|thumb|To pray over an individual while [[laying on of hands|laying hands on them]] is a form of faith healing in Christianity.]] In 1872, [[Francis Galton]] conducted a famous [[statistics|statistical]] experiment to determine whether prayer had a physical effect on the external environment. Galton hypothesized that if prayer was effective, members of the British Royal family would live longer, given that thousands prayed for their wellbeing every Sunday. He therefore compared longevity in the British Royal family with that of the general population, and found no difference.<ref name="Galton"/> While the experiment was probably intended to satirize, and suffered from a number of [[Confounding variable|confounders]], it set the precedent for a number of different studies, the results of which are contradictory. Two studies claimed that patients who are being prayed for recover more quickly or more frequently although critics have claimed that the methodology of such studies are flawed, and the perceived effect disappears when controls are tightened.<ref>{{citation |url= http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/prayer_still_us.html |author= Anonymous |date= July 20, 2005 |title= Skeptico β Prayer still useless |work= skeptico.blogs.com |type= blog |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141104203127/http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/prayer_still_us.html |archive-date= 2014-11-04 |url-status=live }}</ref> One such study, with a [[double-blind]] design and about 500 subjects per group, was published in 1988; it suggested that intercessory prayer by born again Christians had a statistically significant positive effect on a coronary care unit population.<ref name="SouthMedJ"/> Critics contend that there were severe methodological problems with this study.<ref name="Infidels"/> Another such study was reported by Harris et al.<ref name="Harris"/> Critics also claim that the 1988 study was not fully double-blinded, and that in the Harris study, patients actually had a longer hospital stay in the prayer group, if one discounts the patients in both groups who left before prayers began,<ref>Tessman I and Tessman J "Efficacy of Prayer: A Critical Examination of Claims," Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2000,</ref> although the Harris study did demonstrate the prayed for patients on average received lower course scores (indicating better recovery). One of the largest randomized, blind clinical trials was a remote ''retroactive'' intercessory prayer study conducted in Israel by Leibovici. This study used 3393 patient records from 1990 to 1996, and blindly assigned some of these to an intercessory prayer group. The prayer group had shorter hospital stays and duration of fever.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Leibovici | first1 = L | year = 2001 | title = Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomized controlled trial | journal = BMJ | volume = 323 | issue = 7327| pages = 1450β51 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.323.7327.1450 | pmid = 11751349 | pmc=61047}}</ref> Several studies of prayer effectiveness have yielded null results.<ref name="O'Laoire"/> A 2001 double-blind study of the [[Mayo Clinic]] found no significant difference in the recovery rates between people who were (unbeknownst to them) assigned to a group that prayed for them and those who were not.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Aviles | first1 = JM | last2 = Whelan | first2 = SE | last3 = Hernke | first3 = DA | last4 = Williams | first4 = BA | last5 = Kenny | first5 = KE | last6 = O'Fallon | first6 = WM | last7 = Kopecky | first7 = SL | year = 2001 | title = Intercessory prayer and cardiovascular disease progression in a coronary care unit population: a randomized controlled trial | journal = Mayo Clin Proc | volume = 76 | issue = 12| pages = 1192β98 | doi = 10.4065/76.12.1192 | pmid = 11761499 }}</ref> Similarly, the MANTRA study conducted by Duke University found no differences in outcome of cardiac procedures as a result of prayer.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Krucoff | first1 = MW | last2 = Crater | first2 = SW | last3 = Gallup | first3 = D | last4 = Blankenship | first4 = JC | last5 = Cuffe | first5 = M | last6 = Guarneri | first6 = M | last7 = Krieger | first7 = RA | last8 = Kshettry | first8 = VR | last9 = Morris | first9 = K | last10 = Oz | first10 = M | last11 = Pichard | first11 = A | last12 = Sketch | first12 = MH Jr | last13 = Koenig | first13 = HG | last14 = Mark | first14 = D | last15 = Lee | first15 = KL | year = 2005 | title = Music, imagery, touch, and prayer as adjuncts to interventional cardiac care: the Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study | journal = Lancet | volume = 366 | issue = 9481| pages = 211β17 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66910-3 | pmid = 16023511 | s2cid = 18281837 }}</ref> In another similar study published in the ''[[American Heart Journal]]'' in 2006,<ref name="STEP 2006" /> Christian intercessory prayer when reading a scripted prayer was found to have no effect on the recovery of heart surgery patients; however, the study found patients who had knowledge of receiving prayer had slightly higher instances of complications than those who did not know if they were being prayed for or those who did not receive prayer.<ref name="Saletan 2006" /><ref name="STEP 2006" /> Another 2006 study suggested that prayer actually had a significant negative effect on the recovery of [[cardiac bypass]] patients, resulting in more frequent deaths and slower recovery time for those patient who received prayers.<ref name="STEP 2006"/> Many believe that prayer can aid in recovery, not due to divine influence but due to psychological and physical benefits. It has also been suggested that if a person knows that he or she is being prayed for it can be uplifting and increase morale, thus aiding recovery. (See [[Subject-expectancy effect]].) Many studies have suggested that prayer can reduce physical stress, regardless of the god or gods a person prays to, and this may be true for many worldly reasons. According to a study by Centra State Hospital, "the psychological benefits of prayer may help reduce stress and anxiety, promote a more positive outlook, and strengthen the will to live."<ref>[http://www.centrastate.com/body.cfm?id=520&action=detail&articlepath=/Atoz/dc/cen/canc/gen/mindspirit.html#7 Mind and Spirit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201075605/http://www.centrastate.com/body.cfm?id=520&action=detail&articlepath=%2FAtoz%2Fdc%2Fcen%2Fcanc%2Fgen%2Fmindspirit.html |date=2009-02-01 }}. ''from the Health Library section of'' [http://www.centrastate.com CentraState Healthcare System]. Accessed May 18, 2006.</ref> Other practices such as [[yoga]], [[tai chi]], and meditation may also have a positive impact on physical and psychological health. Others feel that the concept of conducting prayer experiments reflects a misunderstanding of the purpose of prayer. The previously mentioned study published in the ''American Heart Journal'' indicated that some of the intercessors who took part in it complained about the scripted nature of the prayers that were imposed to them,<ref name="STEP 2006"/> saying that this is not the way they usually conduct prayer: {{Blockquote|Prior to the start of this study, intercessors reported that they usually receive information about the patient's age, gender and progress reports on their medical condition; converse with family members or the patient (not by fax from a third party); use individualized prayers of their own choosing; and pray for a variable time period based on patient or family request.}} One scientific movement attempts to track the physical effects of prayer through [[neuroscience]]. Leaders in this movement include [[Andrew B. Newberg|Andrew Newberg]], an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In Newberg's brain scans, monks, priests, nuns, [[Nun#Distinction between a nun and a religious sister|sisters]] and gurus alike have exceptionally focused attention and compassion sites. This is a result of the frontal lobe of the brain's engagement (Newberg, 2009). Newburg believes that anybody can connect to the supernatural with practice. Those without religious affiliations benefit from the connection to the metaphysical as well. Newberg also states that further evidence towards humans' need for metaphysical relationships is that as science had increased spirituality has not decreased. Newburg believes that at the end of the 18th century, when the scientific method began to consume{{page needed|date=September 2010}} the human mind, religion could have vanished. However, two hundred years later, the perception of spirituality, in many instances, appears to be gaining in strength (2009). Newberg's research also provides the connection between prayer and meditation and health. By understanding how the brain works during religious experiences and practices Newberg's research shows that the brain changes during these practices allowing an understanding of how religion affects psychological and physical health (2009). For example, brain activity during meditation indicates that people who frequently practice prayer or meditation experience lower blood-pressure, lower heart rates, decreased anxiety, and decreased depression.<ref>Newberg, Andrew. Interviewed by Barbra Bradley Hagerty. "Prayer May Re-Shape Your Brain". www.npr.org "All Things Considered." 20 May 2009. National Public Radio. Web. 30 June 2010. https://www.npr.org/2009/05/20/104310443/prayer-may-reshape-your-brain-and-your-reality</ref> Another paradigm of research returns to the [[Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab|Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research]] (1979-2007) which has provided an explanatory model for mind-matter interactions. [[Robert G. Jahn|Jahn]] and his colleagues explain the local and nonlocal effects of consciousness by an explanation of the normal pathways, through those intentions life prayer, can change the praying person's emotion and behavior, and anomalous pathways which can affect another one through the unconscious-[[Implicate and explicate order|implicit order]] trajectory via [[quantum nonlocality]] mechanism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goli |first=Farzad |title=Bioenergy economy: a methodological study on bioenergy-based therapies |year=2010 |isbn=978-1453538661 |pages=128β132|publisher=Xlibris Corporation LLC }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page