• Testing Prayer: Can Science Prove the Healing Power of Prayer? | Candy Gunther Brown, Ph.D.

  • When sickness strikes, people around the world pray for healing. Many of the faithful claim that prayer has cured them of blindness, deafness and metastasized cancers, and some believe they have been resurrected from the dead.
  • Can, and should, science test such claims?
  • Part of the confusion stems from how prayer is studied.
  • Scientific research has returned mixed results. Some studies conclude that prayer improves health, while others show no effect — or suggest that prayer may lead to worsening health.
  • Are healing claims documented?
  • How do sufferers perceive healing prayer? Fifty-two percent reported healing. Few “claimed healing by faith,” instead defining healing as noticeable improvement of symptoms.
  • Can health outcomes of prayer be measured?
  • Do healing experiences produce lasting effects?

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