A Study of Intecessory Prayer and Healing

I see Reiki as a form of prayer - as we place our hands on another person's body - we concentrate (in yoga called "Dharana") - we sustain a one pointed mind in meditation (in yoga called "Dhyana") and we transcend space and time beyond the limiting energy of ego and third dimension - and merging and blending with the other person (called "Samadhi" in yoga) - and both of us experiencing an amazing sense of peace, trust and serenity. In essence - the state of prayer.  More and more research is being done - to "prove" to the medical establishment that people can heal some diseases and conditions faster and better with assistance from others - whether with a practice such as Reiki - or a group of people focusing their energy (intercessory) directly to them in a state of prayer.  This is an interesting study just published on this topic.


Click here: Prayer can help bring healing, say researchers

Published in the Southern Medical Journal, the study is part of a larger research project investigating the power of spiritual healing practices to heal disease. For this particular study, Brown and her team investigated two charismatic Christian groups known for their healing prayer activities, one from Africa and one from South America.  The team measured the hearing and vision capabilities of impaired people both before and after they received proximal intercessory prayer, and discovered a "statistically significant" improvement in many of them after they had received prayer.
Two people with impaired hearing reduced the threshold at which they were able to detect sound by 50 decibels. Three people with vision impairment at 20/400 or worse improved to 20/80 or better after receiving prayer. One woman who was virtually blind before receiving prayer was able to not only see a person's hand afterward, but was able to count the person's fingers and read the 20/125 line on a vision chart. Brown explained that Christian subgroups that practice proximal intercessory prayer are among the fastest growing groups worldwide because of this phenomenon.
"If [people] feel that a particular religious or spiritual practice healed them, they are much more likely to become an adherent. This phenomenon, more than any other, accounts for the growth of these Christian subgroups globally," she explained.
"Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual Impairments in Rural Mozambique." Southern Medical Journal, September 2010, Volume 103, Issue 9
To speak to the author, Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at IU and author of the study contact Steve Hinnefeld at the IU Office of University Communications, 812-856-3488 or slhinnef@indiana.edu.