Prayer has no power to heal, study shows

In this post, let me share with you the truth about the healing power of prayer and the four principles we need to remember when we pray for healing.

Prayer, bible study, and occasional fasting bring us closer to God.

Recently, I met an atheist on YouTube and we had a little conversation. One thing that stood out to me is when he referred me to an article published by the LA Times with the title, “Largest Study of Prayer to Date Finds It Has No Power to Heal.”

Here’s what the article mentioned:

The largest study yet on the therapeutic power of prayer by strangers has found that it provided no benefit to the recovery of patients who had undergone cardiac bypass surgery…

The results showed that prayers had no beneficial effect on patients’ recovery 30 days after surgery. Overall, 59% of patients who knew they were being prayed for had complications, compared to 51% of the patients who did not receive prayers. The difference was not considered statistically significant.

[🚨 Learn more by reading, “The Ultimate Guide to Learning and Understanding Prayer”]

When it comes to prayer and healing, there are a few things we must remember. Let me share some of them:

Table of Contents

Prayer is powerful

There’s no doubt that prayer is powerful. We have read in James 5:16:

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Prayer is not a way to manipulate God

What most people think about prayer is that it can be used to bend God to our will.

That’s never the case.

God is all-powerful and you can’t dictate to God what to do and what not to do.

While we can pray for God’s healing and intervention, we must still submit to His will and purpose in our lives.

Yes, some are healed while others are not. However, this does not mean that prayer isn’t effective. It only means that God has a better plan.

You have to do your part

In most cases, we know that we get sick simply because of our wrong choices. We are simply experiencing the negative consequences of our actions.

We can pray all we want, but if we are not doing our part, we won’t get healed. We can pray for good health, but will we have our prayers answered if we abuse our bodies? In most cases, the answer is no.

You have to do your part.

Remember the story of a man healed at the pool of Bethesda? This man was sick for almost 40 years!

Here’s the question that Christ asked that man in John 5:6:

“Do you want to be made well?”

There are people who don’t want to get healed. There are people who say they want to get healed but their actions don’t support that claim.

Man is appointed to die

We read in Hebrews 9:27:

²⁷ And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

As long as we are in this human flesh, we are going to get sick. We are going to eventually die. No matter how much you pray for a healthy body, you can’t escape death.

Final words

Going back to the study referred to in the LA Times article, it doesn’t affect my attitude towards prayer. I will still pray and I believe in the power of prayer.

Do you know why?

Because the power of prayer does not lie in the person who said it, but it lies in the Being who hears it.

P.S. If you wish to learn more, I highly recommend reading “The Ultimate Guide to Learning and Understanding Prayer.”

In this guide, you will learn: