The Benefits of Prayer on Our Mental and Physical Well Being

By Jason Lewis

Prayer is one of the oldest and most widely practiced spiritual practices in the world and is a direct way to communicate with God to express our gratitude towards everything that he provides us. Additionally, prayer has been shown to have numerous health benefits, including improving our immune system, helping us sleep better, strengthening relationships, keeping us optimistic, and reducing symptoms related to depression. Prayer is a beneficial activity for everyone to follow as it not only strengthens our connection with God but also with our inner selves and those around us. In this article, we’ll explore the various benefits of prayer and how it helps to improve all aspects of life.

Health Benefits of Prayer

Praying on a daily basis provides numerous helpful benefits, such as the strength to cope with illness and manage pain, reduction in stress levels, keeping anxiety in check, and development of a healthy sleep pattern. Additionally, prayer has the power to connect people and helps individuals develop a sense of community with those around them, leading to improved mental health and overall well-being.

Let’s take a deeper dive into these benefits and understand their effects in detail:

• Develop a Better Sleep Schedule

After a long day at work, praying at night can serve as the perfect way to disassociate from stress and practice gratitude for all you have. Additionally, prayer at night helps us relax and calm down, which is important for getting a good night’s rest. Prayer also helps to stop worrying about things and feel less anxious, which can make it easier to fall asleep at night.

According to research, adults require at least seven hours of sleep each night. Failing to do so can lead to a host of health problems, such as headaches, disorientation, weakened immune system, weight gain, and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Getting adequate sleep will help you feel positive, energized, and peaceful the next morning, resulting in better performance at work and more time to dedicate to your family. Moreover, prayer helps to improve our quality of sleep by reducing anxiety during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycles while increasing relaxation during non-REM cycles.

• Improve your Emotional Health

As reported by the APA, stress levels among young adults across the country are at an all-time high. Driving factors for this include unpredictability regarding the future, leading to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. Prayer can serve as a great solution to tackling this problem as it helps individuals develop a connection with a higher power, feel secure that someone is looking over them, and gain the strength to tackle challenges head-on rather than be discouraged by them. At a time when hope for the future seems to be dwindling owing to unprecedented events such as the pandemic and its subsequent negative economic impacts, praying is the perfect way to develop healthy emotional health.

• Manage Symptoms of Depression

When you’re feeling depressed, prayer helps you to feel less alone. One of the main symptoms of depression is that individuals feel a loss of control over their actions and develop a bleak vision for the future. Connecting with God can serve as a way to develop some much-needed positivity. Additionally, praying is an excellent way to control racing thoughts and focus on the present rather than the past/future.

Moreover, prayer has the power to bring people together and helps them feel connected to a group. For example, when we pray for someone else’s well-being, it makes us feel good about ourselves and lessens our guilt or shame about things like our mortality or the fact that we’ve made mistakes in the past, both of which are common triggers of depression.

• Create Stronger Personal Relationships

One of the main proponents of prayer is to express gratitude for everything that we have, including the people around us, such as parents, kids, spouses, friends, and colleagues. Realizing the importance of people in our life makes us appreciate everything they do for us and provides the motivation to be supportive and develop stronger relations.

Individuals we form deep connections with will stick with us through thick and thin, serving as a support system that helps us reach our goals and live a fulfilled life.

• Become Optimistic Towards Life

When we’re in a bad mood or dealing with a stressful situation, it’s easy to get discouraged about the future and feel like nothing will ever change for the better. Prayer is a useful way of practicing gratitude that can help us maintain a more positive outlook on life in general.

Not only does this help to keep stress in check, but makes us excited to take on challenges. It also helps us overcome challenges by keeping them in perspective and reminding ourselves that they’re temporary. As we mentioned above, people who practice prayer develop stronger relationships with others than those who don’t. And these strong relationships can make one feel less isolated during difficult times and overcome challenges faster.

• Strengthen Your Immune System

When we’re stressed, our body produces higher levels of a hormone called cortisol. The release of cortisol results in various negative changes in our body, such as a slower immune system response, suppression of appetite, headaches, stress, and anxiety. Consistently having high cortisol levels can lead to serious health problems such as heart issues, digestive diseases, irregular sleep patterns, weight gain, and more, as reported by Mayo Clinic. In a nutshell, when we’re stressed out or worried about things happening in our lives or the lives of others, it’s hard for the immune system to function properly and protect us from diseases.

The key to maintaining a healthy immune system is to keep stress in check, which can be done through prayer. The next time you feel stressed, find a quiet space in your home or office and pray for a few minutes. This can include saying your favorite verses or reading the Bible. Praying is bound to help you keep racing thoughts in check, regain clarity of thought and maintain a healthy immune system.

• Develop the Maturity to Forgive

Making mistakes is part and parcel of life, but it’s common for individuals to be hard on themselves after making mistakes. This can lead to lower self-confidence, bad self-esteem, and stress. Whether the mistake you made was intentional or unintentional, it’s important to repent and ask for forgiveness from God. Confessing your mistakes will take a heavy burden off your shoulders and start the process of moving forward rather than dwelling on the past. But, simply asking for forgiveness is not enough, as the main challenge is to understand your wrongdoings and take action towards making things right. If you’re confused about what actions to take, on the next visit to your church, meet with the father and ask for guidance.

Similarly, if you’re the one who has been wronged, it’s easy to hold a grudge and let the relationship turn sour. But, following the teachings of God will make you understand the importance of forgiveness and giving people second chances. This leads to stronger relationships and better mental health.

• Increase Your Lifespan

In the point above, we have explored the various causes of stress and the negative impact it has on your well-being. But, the biggest negative impact stress has on our lives is that it makes us age faster, effectively reducing our lifespan! Chronic stress is not something to take lightly, and prayer can serve as one of the best ways to avoid this predicament.

Praying reduces all potentially fatal consequences of stress and environmental conditions, promotes faster healing, and reduces accelerated aging. Together, these factors enable our mind and body to remain healthy and live longer.

Include Exercise in Your Routine

Practicing exercise along with engaging in prayer is a great way to further improve your health and minimize the effects of everyday stressors. Taking time out to exercise in a busy schedule can understandably be tough, but here are a few easy ways to practice it daily:

• Choose to walk to the bus stop, grocery store, or office rather than take your car.

• While at the office, take the stairs rather than choosing the elevator.

• After a long day of work, take a brief 15-minute walk around the neighborhood rather than spending time scrolling through social media.

As explored in this article, there are numerous health benefits of praying on a daily basis. Whether it’s keeping stress in check, improving immune function, or building strong relationships with those around you, praying will help in all these ordeals. A key proponent of praying is to appreciate what God has given us and to remain on the righteous path. Along with praying, exercise is another great way to keep our mind sharp and body healthy, hence no matter how busy your days are, make time for these activities as they’re bound to improve your well-being in the short and long run.