One of the strangest and saddest omissions in modern theology is prayer. A. Strong, for example, devoted but six pages to prayer under the heading of providence. M. Erickson's fine recent work contains only two pages on the subject, also under providence. On a single page W. G. T. Shedd lists prayer as one of the external "means of sanctification," along with Scripture, "Providential discipline...

During the preschool years, children understand prayer as a form of communication and are sensitive to the physical behaviours of prayer. Theorists have suggested a connection between the ability to reason about others’ mental states and the inflexible nature of religious rituals. Thus, the current study examined this connection in preschool children’s understanding of prayer. Child-parent dyad...

This paper presents a case series with preliminary data regarding the neurophysiological effects of specific prayer practices associated with the Islamic religion. Such practices, like other prayer practices, are likely associated with several coordinated cognitive activities and a complex pattern of brain physiology. However, there may also be changes specific to the goals of Islamic prayer wh...

CONTEXT Intercessory prayer (praying for others) has been a common response to sickness for millennia, but it has received little scientific attention. The positive findings of a previous controlled trial of intercessory prayer have yet to be replicated. OBJECTIVE To determine whether remote, intercessory prayer for hospitalized, cardiac patients will reduce overall adverse events and length ...

Prayer is the most common form of religious practice and a central part of religious experience, yet little is known about whether individuals’ prayer activities and beliefs tend to remain stable or develop over the life course. This study examines change during the course of older adulthood in a range of dimensions of prayer, including total frequency of private prayer, specific beliefs and ex...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To explore the meaning, function, and focus of prayer for patients with advanced cancer, and to identify the effects of prayer on their coping. RESEARCH APPROACH Qualitative, descriptive design using focus groups. SETTING Three cancer centers that are part of a university-affiliated comprehensive cancer network in the northeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS 13 adult, f...

People nowadays love to travel around the world. Regardless of their location and time, they especially Muslims still need to perform their five times prayer. Normally for travelers, they need to bring maps, compass and for Muslim, they even have to bring Qibla pointer when they travel. It is slightly difficult to determine the Qibla direction and to know the time for each prayer. In this paper...

Four methodologically diverse studies (N = 1,758) show that prayer frequency and alcohol consumption are negatively related. In Study 1 (n = 824), we used a cross-sectional design and found that higher prayer frequency was related to lower alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior. Study 2 (n = 702) used a longitudinal design and found that more frequent prayer at Time 1 predicted l...

Previous studies suggest that religious prayer can alter the experience of pain via expectation mechanisms. While brain processes related to other types of top-down modulation of pain have been studied extensively, no research has been conducted on the potential effects of active religious coping. Here, we aimed at investigating the neural mechanisms during pain modulation by prayer and their d...

There is increasing interest regarding prayer in healthcare. Prayer is an activity related to spirituality and religion. Positive outcomes have been identified regarding spirituality in health. This study aims to investigate the effects on patients’ health of using prayer. A systematic literature review was conducted in May 2015 and updated in November 2015. Electronic and international databas...