Healthy Thinking: Praying

A study by the Californian cardiologist Randolf Byrd helped inspire Larry Dossey to get involved in the healing power of prayer. In 1988 Byrd studied 393 heart patients. They were randomly divided into two groups using a double-blind technique, which means that neither the patients, nor the doctors or nurses knew to which group the patients belonged. Catholic and protestant prayer groups were given the names and health conditions of patients from the first control group and every day they directed their prayer to someone from that group. No prayers were said for the patients from the second control group. The group for which prayers were said needed five times fewer antibiotics than the other group, had three times less lung edema and no one needed intubation to help them breathe, as opposed to 12 people in the other control group.

Dr. Larry Dossey

Larry Dossey has since become an authority in the area of “medicine at a distance.” He is more than convinced that prayer works:

Dr. Dossey says “Studies have irrefutably proven that people on a spiritual path – whereby meditation or prayer play a role – live an average of 7-13 years longer than those who are not. Moreover, cancer and heart disease are significantly less prevalent among those who pray or meditate. Prayer has an effect on nearly every living organism it has been tried on: people, various cells and tissue, animals, plants and organisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast. At least 130 controlled laboratory experiments have been done.

“Prayer is communicating with the creative powers of the universe, with the extrasensory. There are different types of prayer: the appeal for something for yourself, the meditation in which you ask something for someone else, veneration, plea… In every case we go beyond our mind, which tends to think that it can solve everything by itself.”

Prayer to Dr. Dossey is not something holy that is only reserved to pious churchgoers: “Everyone can pray, even if you don’t believe in God. A friend of mine prays to ‘To whom it may concern.’ Research clearly indicates that the intention of the prayer is important to the result. When you pray, do so with your whole heart, like a child, from a place of wonder, innocence and sincerity.”

One more tip: “There is not just one good way to pray. You can pray for something specific, give thanks or simply ask for help. When facing something difficult, for instance: ‘Come on God, help me out here.’ It works! Try to find your own way to pray. If your wording becomes too formal, it often loses its power.”

Dr. Dossey remembers once sitting in a room during a lecture by a theologian. Someone asked: “How exactly should you pray?’” Her answer: “It’s very simple, ask God.”

Dr. Larry Dossey, M.D. is a doctor, writer and inspired thinker who is helping clear the way to a new approach to medicine, where the ‘non-local’ conscious also plays a significant role. He has won numerous awards for his work in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Dossey is the former executive editor of Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, a peer reviewed journal which covers the fields of integrative medicine, environmental health, spirituality, and consciousness-related health issues.

Dr. Dossey’s Vision: I long thought that we must choose between science and reason on the one hand, and spirituality on the other. Now I understand that this is a deceptive choice. They can go very well together, not only in the academic world, but also in daily life.

Dr. Dossey’s Books: The Power of Premonitions (2009);The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things (2005);Healing Beyond the Body (2001); Reinventing Medicine (1999); Be Careful What You Pray For (1997); Prayer is Good Medicine (1996); Healing Words (1993); Meaning & Medicine (1991); Recovering the Soul (1989); Beyond Illness (1984); Space, Time and Medicine (1982)

Ode is a print and online publication about positive news, about the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better. In print and online, Ode's aim is to bring a new reality into view, to explore opportunities for positive change in our daily lives and our daily minds.

This article is shared by permission of Dr. Larry Dossey and Ode Magazine. It first appeared in Ode Magazine: #5.