Prayer and Health: Review, Meta-Analysis, and Research Agenda

Abstract

This article reviews the empirical research on prayer and health and offers a research agenda to guide future studies. Though many people practice prayer and believe it affects their health, scientific evidence is limited. In keeping with a general increase in interest in spirituality and complementary and alternative treatments, prayer has garnered attention among a growing number of behavioral scientists. The effects of distant intercessory prayer are examined by meta-analysis and it is concluded that no discernable effects can be found. The literature regarding frequency of prayer, content of prayer, and prayer as a coping strategy is subsequently reviewed. Suggestions for future research include the conduct of experimental studies based on conceptual models that include precise operationally defined constructs, longitudinal investigations with proper measure of control variables, and increased use of ecological momentary assessment techniques.

The Effect of Dietary and Exercise Self-Management Support Program on Dietary Behavior Exercise Behavior and Clinical Outcomes in Muslim Patients with Poorly Controlled Type 2 DM in a Community Setting in Indonesia

“…Similar to this study, the majority of patients performed exercise behaviors because they believed that exercise can maintain their spiritual health, mental health, and physical health based on Islamic teaching by Prophet Muhammad SAW. This finding was consistent with a previous study which found that praying in stressful conditions may strengthen faith and sense of confidence and improve physical well being by decreasing the blood glucose level and aiding the decomposition of patients with type 2 DM (Rahman, 2004;Masters & Spielmans, 2007).…”

“I Heard the Voice. I Felt the Presence”: Prayer, Health and Implications for Clinical Practice

“…The observations of Ladd and Spilka [6] and other authors [7,8] who have criticized the relation between spirituality and health are relevant. It is also apparent that the basic theoretical foundation of many studies is unclear (or not presented in any substantive fashion), just as the notions of health and prayer used in such studies often are unclear.…”

“…Ladd and Spilka [4] cite four reviews about the link between intercessory prayer and health, concluding that "…the empirical evidence that intercessory prayer has an effect on the health of those for whom the intercessory prayer was held is minimal" ([4], p. 299). Masters and Spielmans ( [7], p. 332), advise researchers interested in studies on the effects of prayer on health to avoid this type of study and it likely that a substantial number of "file drawers" are filled with similar projects that failed to show significance and hence did not go forward to publication or presentation [20].…”

“…The main revisions in the literature about prayer and health [4,[6][7][8] indicate a lack of a consistent theory to sustain the quantitative research studies on prayer and health. It is often assumed that everyone knows what is being discussed when one refers to health and prayer.…”

Key Issues in Clinical and Epidemiological Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine – a Systematic Literature Review

“…This approach could represent a potential alternative if RCTs are seen to be inappropriate, too expensive or too complicated [13,20,67,69,89], if general effectiveness of an intervention is the focus of interest [24,52] or to assess CAM use in the population [45]. Results of observational studies can influence the design of further interventional trials [17,42].…”