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Prayer as a Source of Healing

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Submitted By Barnett83
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Healing and Payer
Chris Barnett
Grand Canyon University:
March 2, 2014

Many humans, when in a time of need, begin to consult god or their personal religious deity through prayer or other processes in hopes that they will be saved from the hardships they face. Many experiments have been done in order to establish whether prayer is an actual source of healing for humans. Prayer in fact is a way to heal in the way that it allows for people to live a less stressful life, along with crucial research that demonstrates the positive medical effects of spiritual healing such as prayer.Whether The prayer comes from the person in need or from other sources, there have been studies to show that prayer is in fact an aspect that improves the health of the patient. Prayer is a huge part of any religion whether in a time of crisis or regular practice. It is said That over 90 percent of Americans either believe in God or some sort of higher power(Johnston). This belief can put individuals into a state of serenity which will relax their body and allow for faster healing. Prayer allows one to come in contact with God or the higher power they believe in. This in turn allows their higher power to heal the individuals mind and body, allowing the individual to relax and accept the treatment they are receiving with low stress and anxiety. Patients and individuals with less stress have been shown to live healthier lives(Johnston). Research has shown that individuals that pray and partake in spiritual healing are healthier all around. For example, They have lower blood pressure and incidence of stroke and heart disease(Johnston). A Double blind study done by Randolph Byrd suggested that even Prayer done by people other than the ones that were in need of healing helped. In his study people that had received some sort of spiritual prayer from other they did not know needed less

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