Does prayer work? There are diverse opinions on this. But empirical research has shown that while prayer does not really have effect on material phenomenon, the effect is more psychological on the brain of the person praying or that of the person being prayed for. Many faith healers and faith preachers have developed multibillion dollar enterprises on their own prayer formula provided in their own prayer houses. Prayer as an alternative to medicine makes more money than alternative medicine. According to The Washington Post, “…prayer is the most common complement to mainstream medicine, far outpacing acupuncture, herbs, vitamins and other alternative remedies.”
 The scientific world has also been curious about the efficacy of prayer as claimed by the faith industry. This was since the 1800s.Â
Sir Francis Galton, 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911, was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist,tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician and a proponent of social Darwinism, eugenics, and scientific racism. He devised a method for classifying fingerprints that proved useful in forensic science. He also conducted research on the power of prayer, concluding it had none due to its null effects on the longevity of those prayed for. This was in the 1800s o.
Studies can verify that those who pray are affected by the experience, including certain physiological outcomes. An example of a study on meditative prayer was the Bernardi study in the British Medical Journal in 2001. It reported that by praying the rosary or reciting yoga mantras at specific rates, baroreflex sensitivity increased significantly in cardiovascular patients.
A study published in 2008 used Eysenck’s dimensional model of personality based on neuroticism and psychoticism to assess the mental health of high school students based on their self-reported frequency of prayer. For students both in Catholic and Protestant schools, higher levels of prayer were associated with better mental health as measured by lower psychoticism scores. However, among pupils attending Catholic schools, higher levels of prayer were also associated with higher neuroticism scores.
It has also been suggested that if a person knows that he or she is being prayed for it can be uplifting and increase morale, thus aiding recovery. Studies have suggested that prayer can reduce psychological stress, regardless of the god or gods a person prays to, a result that is consistent with a variety of hypotheses as to what may cause such an effect. According to a study by CentraState Healthcare System, “the psychological benefits of prayer may help reduce stress and anxiety, promote a more positive outlook, and strengthen the will to live.” Other practices such as Yoga, T’ai chi, and meditation may also have a positive impact on physical and psychological health.
A certain Dr. Rosmarin says that the research that has been done on prayer shows it may have similar benefits to meditation: It can calm your nervous system, shutting down your fight or flight response. It can make you less reactive to negative emotions and less angry.Â
So in all, we can understand why the business of prayers have thrived through the generations. Humanity resorts to it to ground herself. More like that psychological effect those that engage in betting get. But to say that prayer can change material phenomenon, that is still limited to the faith world and has not been scientifically proven.
 (Sources: Carey, Benedict (31 March 2006). “Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Wikipedia.org)
