Intercession and supplication.
Many people pray when they are afraid or need help. They ask God to intervene in their lives in palpable ways. A survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics found that 43% of the adult population had prayed specifically for their own health in the previous year and more than half of those surveyed had prayed for their own health at some point in their lives.1
Comfort and guidance.
In 2004, U.S. News & World Report teamed up with BeliefNet, a multi denominational web site focusing on religion, to collect information about why people pray. Out of 5,600 responses, 1 in 3 said that the most important purpose of prayer was “intimacy with God.” Another 28% said the most important purpose of prayer was to “seek God’s guidance.”2 While people pray for everything from a cure for cancer to financial issues, most prayers seek to effect super natural changes in circumstances and reflect a desire for a personal relationship with God that is engaging and dynamic.
Peace and stillness.
Prayer is one of the oldest and most effective means of relaxation that humans have. For many, meditation and prayer are quiet inward dialogue that helps them resolve internal conflicts and sort out their troubles. It offers a necessary respite from the world that calms and restores in times of crisis or stress. Whether we sing, write, or speak our prayer, it can be liberating to turn our trust over to God.
Prayer Benefits
Although it is difficult to prove definitively the relationship between prayer and curing disease, many studies have demonstrated the recuperative benefits, both physiological and psychological, of meditation and prayer. It is easy to see how prayer might give us greater optimism, promote faster recovery, allow us to manage stress more effectively, prevent addiction, and assuage feelings of depression and anxiety.
Dr. Dale Matthews, Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University and a practicing physician, has documented the connection between faith and healing. After years of observing and recording the ways his patients benefited from an active spiritual life, Matthews concluded that faith:
1. Helps us to stay healthy and avoid life-threatening and disabling diseases such as cancer and heart disease;
2. Helps us to recover faster and with fewer complications if they do develop a serious
illness;
3. Helps us to live longer;
4. Helps us to avoid and reduce life-threatening encounters and unanticipated terminal illnesses with greater peacefulness and less pain;
5. Helps us to avoid mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety and to cope more effectively with stress;
6. Helps us to avoid clear of problems with alcohol, drugs and tobacco;
7. Helps us to enjoy a happier marriage and family life;
8. Helps us to find a greater sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.
Super Health 7 Prayer Principles
Quiet time apart and in prayer is important if we are to benefit from God’s perspective on our lives and to better understand what is pleasing to him. These seven prayer principles help to keep our spirits open to God’s revelations and direction for our lives:
- Give Thanks and Praise to God.
- Read the Bible.
- Meditate on the Word of God.
- Ask Forgiveness for Your Sins and Forgive Others Who Have Sinned Against You.
- Pray for Others.
- Pray for Yourself.
- Meditate and Listen to the Still Small Voice of God.
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