Did you think to pray?

According to a 2013 Pew Research Poll, over half of Americans pray every day. In the same poll in 2012, it found that 75 percent of Americans believe that prayer is an important part of daily life.

These statistics may lead you to wonder why all these people think prayer is worthy of their time. One reason is that prayer doesn’t just help you spiritually but it also has some health benefits associated with it.

According to a University of Rochester study, prayer is the most widespread alternative therapy used in America today. Spiritual practices have been shown to alleviate stress levels, and reduce major risk factors for disease.

Prayer helps eliminate fatigue, and that helps with your positive mental state, thus enabling you to have more self-control. The positive benefits of this is that it helps you demonstrate kindness by being more tolerant of other people’s actions.

Harvard scientist Herbert Benson, MD says the science behind this is simple; prayer and meditation increase levels of dopamine which is associated with states of well-being and joy creating a relaxation response in the body.

This response reduces blood pressure helping the body’s metabolism to decrease and the heart rate to slow down. This in turn boosts the immune system and helps the body fight off disease.

Wow, who knew that just by talking to God, you were entering into a health regimen that has benefits that even the National Institution of Health (NIH) recognizes.

The wonderful part of all this is that it doesn’t matter if you pray for yourself or others, the benefits are the same. I find it amazing that doing something that helps me draw near to God and grow spiritually is going to make me healthier.

I wasn’t sure I believed all this until my last doctor’s visit. I have always had blood pressure that was off the charts. I am a driven personality so I never slow down or take a break. I was taken off caffeine years ago, but I still managed to have a diastolic number that was almost higher than my systolic.

Recently, I became suspicious that my blood pressure was low. My doctor confirmed that it had steadily gone down over that last two years which coincides with when I entered the ministry. My MD was able to cut all three of my medications in half and my blood pressure is holding steady around 120/70.

Since I have not changed my diet or exercise in the least, I asked her why my blood pressure had changed. She said, “You became more spiritual.” She told me she had witnessed this phenomenon over and over in her career and when people start doing more spiritual practices, there blood pressure stabilizes.

I pray for one reason; It helps me have a personal relationship with God. But I honor and praise a Creator who loves me enough to make my act of prayer also enhance my health.

Glory be to God.