Spirituality For Your Health

By Alan L. Pritz

Throughout history people have invoked spiritual aid to remedy illness or disease. From a belief standpoint, petitioning a Higher Power for healing makes perfect sense. Yet in medicine, the issue of measurable, reproducible proof is the cornerstone of quality practice. Accordingly, the question of whether prayer has true healing power is currently being explored with serious scientific rigor.

Larry Dossey, M.D, former Chief of Staff of Humana Medical Center, Dallas, TX and co–chair of the Panel of Mind/Body Interventions, Office of Alternative Medicine, has done revolutionary work researching the efficacy of prayer. His findings, published in Healing Words, The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine and Prayer Is Good Medicine, show that, regardless of religious affiliation, prayer does promote the healing process.

While prayers can be classified in many ways, prayer seeking divine intervention for the benefit of others is generally called Intercessory Prayer. A kind of Intercessory Prayer called Healing Prayer displays two wonderful qualities:

• It works best when done with love and faith, i.e. “pray believing”
• Distance to the patient doesn’t matter

The following Healing Prayer is called a “Vessel Technique” for it invites Divine Healing to flow through the person praying.

• Ask Spirit for healing to flow through you.
• Rub the palms until warm.
• Raise the hands visualizing Divine light flowing to the patient.
• Picture them filled with this spiritual light and already whole.
• Pray throughout until you feel complete.
• Give thanks.
• Do one or more times daily.