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Can Prayers for Healing the Sick Really Do Miracles?

Here is how prayer for healing the sick works. Healing prayers for the sick and loved ones give strength, help recovery, bring peace, and do miracles.
Why simple prayers for healing the sick and strength do miracles
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Yes, simple prayers for the sick can heal and do miracles. Though how orthodox it sounds, healing prayers do work and are backed by scientific explanation. While for some prayers have the power of healing , they can at least bring comfort, peace and strength for others. This may not have to do anything with your religion. And no matter what faith you follow, all emphasize on the usefulness of prayer for healing. What are prayers, how do prayers heal, and why you should pray – know all about the healing or miraculous power of prayers in this updated post. ~ Ed.

 

Do prayers for healing really work?

Can a prayer really heal something that even the doctors cannot cure?

Such questions probably come to your mind, don’t they? It all seems so unreasonable, isn’t it?

But then it’s not only about prayers for healing the sick – there are prayers for strength and peace of mind, prayers for peace in the world, and so on.

How much should we trust in the healing claims of prayers?

There are plenitude of people around the world who consider that prayers are mystical.  There’s something magical about them. Even many scientists acknowledge that prayers have powers to heal.

Prayers change and charge you up emotionally, physically, and spiritually. They alter, awaken and transform you. Prayers are instruments of holistic healing for better health and happiness.

Let’s understand all about prayers and its miracle healing aspects, starting from the very basics.

“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” ~ Mother Teresa

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What is a Prayer

Prayer has different meaning in religious, spiritual, and scientific contexts. However, they all end up doing the same thing, which is to heal.

For some, prayers for healing might just mean a few sacred words, for others an informal talk or ritual with God or a higher power.

The basis of prayer is a belief that there is a power greater than us, which influences our lives.

The word “prayer” comes from the Latin word precarius, which means “to entreat – obtained from begging”.

Don’t we always beg or want something or the other through our prayers, whether it is peace, happiness, or even materialistic favors?

For a spiritual person, prayer is the means to raise the level of their innerself, to purify themselves, and connect to their spirits.

A scientific person may regard prayer for healing as a way to create a harmonious balance of the mind and body, and use it as a tool to talk oneself out of depressive and down times of life.

These are all ways to heal, aren’t they? Meditation is also a prayer; however, I feel it is more about the mind, whereas a prayer is all about your heart.

You can consider prayer as a tool or technique like meditation to use your spiritual power to heal the mind and body.

I realized with time that prayers are intense emotions that arise from your heart, often called the seat of emotions. The heart is also the place where your soul is said to reside.

What Happens When You Pray

When you pray, you bypass your mind and your inner self connects directly to the higher self through the emotional channel. You receive energy through this strong emotional connection that heals you.

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Or you can say you receive the key to unlock you own hidden treasure of miraculous energy and that heals yourself.

Even if you don’t believe in a higher self, you would acknowledge that you feel good with positive emotions in and around you. This is what happens when you pray – you feel good.

I also consider prayers to have a dual purpose – connect to the higher self and to my inner self. Whether these two are different or similar, is another topic for future discussion.

Prayers send positive signals, feelings, and vibrations that also heal the environment around you. They are like a happiness transmission of positive thoughts and emotions, the more you believe, the more positive you become.

The healing prayers for the sick also gives you the courage to meet the challenges of life, if you carry them out with your heart and soul. Miracle happens to those who believe!

When you start believing, you open up the vault of superpower within you. This power or energy starts flowing and acts on every cell of your body.

The healing begins at the cellular level, and most healing comes when prayer changes your mind. We’ve a post about how powerful your mind is and its ability to change you.

Religious Interpretation of Prayers

For a religious person, prayer is a conversation you have with God to have a one-to-one relationship with Him, as I would simply put it. It’s an attempt to be in the presence of Almighty.

Religious people believe that God listens, and He answers you, though His answers may be very different from what you expect. And they come to you in time, so you need to remain patient and keep the faith.

His answer may give you the strength and ability to accept what you have been denying. It might come as the strength to fight on, or be a light of hope in the face of despair.

People say that God accepts your prayer if it comes with purest of intentions, emotions, and heart.

But first, you need to believe. A tiny hole can sink a ship, and a single doubt can make your prayer ineffective.

If you combine prayer and meditation, you become a powerhouse of energy that can help heal yourself and others too.

Do you know that there are more ways than one to pray? Let’s know some of them.

“Prayer is where the action is.” ~ John Wesley

What are the Different Prayers for Healing

Praying is perhaps one of the most ancient and personal human experiences. It probably started as a way to speak with the unseen forces.

How to pray for healing? There is no single way of praying because it has many forms like silent prayers, spoken prayers, or prayers of the heart, the mind, and the union with God.

Some hold prayers in group sessions, or just meditate and reflect to converse with God in their own way. When your intentions are clear and sincere, any way is alright.

All prayers lead to one destination – healing.

Prayer researchers have identified four main ways in which we pray for healing and it’s suggested that we use one of these four ways or a combination of these. The four ways are –

Informal Prayers

These are also called Colloquial prayers, they are offered in everyday language.

Petitionary Prayers

These are requests to God.

Ritualistic Prayers

Perhaps the most familiar of all kinds of prayers, they consist of precise words spoken at a specific time or year.

Meditative Prayers

Some people say prayer is “speaking” to God and meditation is “listening” to God. When you do both, you are one to one with God or your innerself.

Other kinds of healing prayers include –

  • Intercessory prayer, which is praying for someone else.
  • Distance healing prayer for the sick, where again your prayer for healing are for someone, at a distance.
  • Petition prayers are when you ask God for something.
  • Centering prayers center on a word or phrase in silence for at least 20 minutes.

However, there is also one last way of prayers, the one that’s based on feeling or the “lost mode”.

Pure feeling-based prayers have the ability to communicate with the greater force that most people believe in.

I’d say the best way to pray is to close your eyes and speak to an imaginary person to whom you surrender yourself totally and you let your emotions do the talking. You can do this anywhere and anytime.

But before accepting prayers for healing and starting to pray, it’s good to know the reasons for doing so.

“When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing – nothing.” ~ Saint Francis of Assisi

Why Should You Pray For Healing

Spending a little time to thank the Almighty isn’t asking for much. After all, being humble and grateful is what makes you more human and loving, isn’t it?

A simple prayer can change you and even lead you on the path of healing yourself and the world around you.

Healing prayers take a few seconds to utter if you are really rushed for time, but its influence on your behavior, your life, your heart, and your perception can be permanent.

So pray! Pray for healing, pray for peace, strength, courage to overcome injustice, resolve, pray for others and yourself.

There are prayers for healing a loved one and a friend. There are prayers for healing body after surgery, cancer, and for fast recovery. For healing all kinds of aches, illnesses, injuries, and pains, there are specific prayers.

Your prayers for healing and peace may not always yield results, because the working of God is mysterious. Nevertheless, that should not deter you from praying.

If you believe, prayers can change the way you think and it can transform the way you behave, feel, and work.

If you’re a non-believer, you still have many reasons to believe in prayers and their healing abilities that are backed by science.

Prayers for healing resolve the conflicts of your heart and mind, and give you peace.

Let’s know about the specific advantages of prayers.

“The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort.” ~ Will Rogers

Healing Powers of Praying

I possibly cannot list out all the healing effects of praying, but let me try to list a few of them here-

  • When you pray, your mind becomes more alert, enlightened, and focused.
  • Prayers alters you, awakens you, and it makes your priorities shift.
  • You feel free when you forgive others while praying, and this helps in healing.
  • Emotionally, patients respond better and remain positive, which helps in the healing process.
  • Spiritually, patients become prepared for the outcome. They are inspired and feel better through the loving acts of their friends through prayers.
  • Prayers bring about feelings of compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, and hope, which are all associated with healing and well being.
  • Prayers have the power to transform your fear and anxiety into faith. It reminds you that you are never alone.
  • Prayers for healing and strength are free, unlike other treatments. They have no bad side effects either. 🙂
  • They take very little time, and have no risk in trying them out too!
  • When you pray, you feel calm and uplifted, which reduces the release of stress hormones like cortisol, thus reducing the impact of stress and promoting healing.
  • Prayers heal the mind, body, and soul, besides reinforce relationships when times are tough.
  • Prayer elicits the relaxation response, which reduces blood pressure and stress.

There are more ways in which prayers provide healing and you can add them in the comments section.

“God always answers our prayers, but sometimes the answer is no.” ~ Author Unknown

How Prayer For Healing Helps Recovery and Gain Strength

People turn to various sources of healing prayers once they are faced with a terminal illness, or perhaps tormenting pain, a failing heart, or other diseases.

At different times the healing prayers for the sick have been put to test, and there are studies and researches that claim that prayers have a healing effect on patients.

Prayer for healing body isn’t a substitute for medicines. You still need to pursue the best medical advice you find. And prayers do not guarantee miracles or relief from your sufferings.

However, you don’t need to neglect prayers, which are a treatment path that’s available to all – free of cost!

Belief in healing makes the praying person heal.

Various doctors believe that prayer for healing do wonders for patients as they’ve seen patients who pray recover from illnesses without any specific treatment or medical explanation.

How does that happen?

Some say it’s a miracle, but for those who believe in the powers of prayers, believe this to be as faith. They believe in the higher power to heal the body, mind, and soul.

Many who have faith claim that prayers have cured them of deafness, blindness, and even terminal illness like cancers. Some even believe that have been resurrected from the dead.

Some agree and some disagree with this. How about you?

Healing prayers make you more positive and reduce negativity.

Prayers for healing and recovery help a person to cope with addiction, depression, pain, despair, emotional pain, medical illness, and much more. When you pray, you free your mind and body of the fear and anxiety.

Once your mind and body relax, you bring positive energy that helps you feel better. Even patients are known to respond to treatment better and are filled with hope.

Those patients who believe in the healing power of prayers become more hopeful, gain more strength, remain energetic, stay at ease, and have a will to survive.

Some facts that come to light –

  • Heart patients who don’t participate in a religion were 14 times more likely to die following surgery.
  • Elderly people who rarely or never attended church had more chances of a stroke than those who were regular.
  • Religious people in Israel had a 40% lower death rate from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Prayer for healing make you relaxed and stress-free.

Dr. Wayne Jonas says that, “Surveys indicate that nearly 90% of patients with serious illness will engage in prayers for the alleviation of their suffering or disease.”

According to Herbert Benson, MD, a Harvard scientist – all forms of prayers evoke a relaxation response that reduces stress, quiets the mind, and promotes healing. He adds that prayers involve the repetition of sounds, words, which heals.

Even research indicates that prayer is the second most common method of pain management, the first being oral pain medication.

“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.” ~ Khalil Gibran

Wrapping Up

I’ve often seen many people quit praying after a while because they want healing magic and miracles to happen when they pray.

They want it to work like a light switch, where the light comes on the moment you put the switch on. They want instant answers to their prayers, and instant healing.

Such people will pray only when in trouble. Now, isn’t that being selfish?

People realize soon enough that prayer isn’t like that – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it just takes longer than usual.

They tend to get discouraged or find healing prayers to be ineffective and quit praying. Only if they had persisted to see amazing things happen, they’d realize the healing powers of prayers do work.

You cannot decipher His ways. You only have to keep believing and praying. The prayers for healing do work.

Okay, before you go, here’s a short poll to know your views. Let’s be honest. 🙂

[polldaddy poll=7869428]

I strongly believe that prayers heal us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s a scientific process as well. What did you find out in the results to this poll?

So, now that you know all about miracle healing prayers, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you ready to start praying even harder now, for healing yourself and others – to make this a better world!

“Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Over to you –

Do you believe that simple prayers can have miraculous healing powers? Have you used praying for your healing, prayers for healing the sick, your loved ones and the world? If you pray, how do you pray, and if you don’t, what are your reasons? Share in the comments.

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  1. Hey Harleena..!

    Thanks a lot for sharing your great ideas. Prayers will always give answers to us if we do sincerely. Once again thank you so much for sharing

  2. Hey Harleena,

    how have you been in all these years?
    I was not around for quite some time and as soon as i logged in today ,jumped onto this post.My father is going through a bad phase of his life right now and there is a lot of tension going on in our lives but i believe that prayer is the only thing which is keeping us going and regularly giving us strength.I do believe in the power of prayers 🙂 and i am sure he will be alright soon.
    Thanks for sharing this post!!

  3. Hi Harleena,
    For some of us prayer comes easily. For others it may be more difficult.
    I know it took me some time to learn to pray. So I asked God to teach me how and He did!
    Prayer have so much power that man can’t explain. Like you mentioned, the best way to change your environment is by prayer.
    The environment it self may not change but God can change your perspective about it.
    Prayer is all about healing.
    Thanks for such a good post!

  4. I am a Catholic Christian. I do my best to turn by issues over to God for help. The hardest part is hearing God’s voice. I look at my day and I try to see what God is teaching me. We, also, need to be be merciful and kind to others.

    Chris
    Owner CEL Financial Services

    1. Stepping on the cloth border of a tatami mat brings bad luck.

      —Japan

      It is bad luck if a widow, a single Brahman, or a man carrying oil or milk crosses your path.

      —India

      It is bad luck for a black cat to cross your path.

      —United States

      I have frequently been told the following by conservative Christians in support of their belief in the existence of the supernatural (God, devils, angels, demons, etc..) : “Miracles prove the existence of the supernatural. Millions of people all over the world claim to have experienced miracles, in particular, miracles due to answered prayer. How can so many people be wrong??? At least some of these millions of miracle claims must be true.”

      My response: Billions of people all over the world, today and for millennia in the past, believe that they have experienced bad luck due to intentionally or unintentionally violating a particular taboo in their culture. How did these beliefs (taboos) come about? I will bet that most of these beliefs began when one person experienced a horrific calamity immediately after having a black cat cross the road, stepping on a tatami mat, or not having a cactus in front of his house like all his neighbors. The person who suffered the calamity made the claim to his neighbors that the one event had caused the other. Soon other people (who had heard of the circumstances of the first person’s misfortune) experienced misfortune under similar circumstances, reinforcing the belief in that village that some causal relationship exists between a black cat crossing in front of you, etc., and bad fortune. And soon, this belief spread to the surrounding villages, then the surrounding districts of the country, until one day this belief was an established belief in the entire country. And voila…a cultural taboo (superstition) was born!

      If every time a black cat crossed in front of someone, a terrible event happened, everyone would believe that black cats cause bad luck. If bad events never happened after crossing paths with a black cat, no one would believe this claim. But that isn’t the case, is it? Bad events do sometimes happen after crossing paths with a black cat. The reality is that bad events happen after crossing paths with black cats just often enough for some people in our culture, particularly in the past, and maybe even now, to believe that there is a causal relationship between black cats and misfortune (bad luck).

      I suggest that the same is true with answered prayers and miracles. The desired prayer outcome occurs just often enough after a Christian prays for him (for her) to believe that there is a causal relationship between prayer and good things happening. Even Christians must admit that not all prayers are answered. I would wager to bet that if Christians were honest, they would be forced to admit that most prayers are not answered (unless you insist on including prayers for your food to remain safe for consumption and prayers that every member of your family will still be alive at bedtime tonight.) And I will bet that if each Christian would take the time to sit down and write down all their prayer requests for the last month (excluding safe food consumption and family safety), they would find that the success rate of prayer would be no better than random chance.

      In conclusion, the fact that millions of people believe that they have experienced a miracle due to prayer is no more proof that miracles are real or that prayer is effective, than the fact that billions of people believe that misfortune (bad luck) has struck them due to their violation of a particular cultural taboo. Both bad luck and miracles can be explained by statistics: Random, sometimes very rare, but very natural events.

      It’s all about random chance, folks. There are no invisible superheroes performing magic tricks for you.

  5. Prayer will surely heal and make your mind happy. I have experienced this after attending retreat prayers. Prayer is talking to God with love and belief. Give thanks to God for everything, even for your sickness and troubles. Share your problems with God, ask pardon for your sins. Sickness and troubles are a way to make you pray and seek God. Jesus healed many people who prayed to him.

  6. Hi Harleena!
    Thanks for sharing your ideas.The way I see it God will always answer prayers if we made it form our deep heart.nice and looks very attractive blogs….
    Thanks for sharing.

  7. So this is a large post with the title “Can Prayer for Healing Really Work” – Note that the title never gets answered with evidence only with the assumption “Of course it works – prayer makes you feel relaxed, calms you, etc. so that means it works”. First off, answer the question with evidence. Secondly, show evidence that it can even marginally cause a change in your physiology. Lastly, state your sources otherwise you are just spreading propaganda to only those people that already believe in the “power of prayer”.

  8. Hey Harleena,

    I love this topic and you have put this post together wonderfully! I do believe in prayer and it’s ability to help one heal.

    My thinking is that yes a higher power can introduce change in ones life and prayer helps that. I do also believe that along with prayer we also have to realize that we ourselves have more power than we know.

    It all starts with the mind! If we full heartedly believe in what we are praying and keep out negativity which prayer helps as you mentioned we can heal many different aspects of our life.

    Excellent! Take care Harleena!

  9. When I pray deeply, surly it is listened by god. and i get what i want. there is surly some energy called god in the world that handles all of the life

  10. thanks harleena for sharing such an awesome post…yeah prayer heals everything as it conncts us with our innerselves and awaken us and heal all our worries,wounds and everything becomes awesome and fine.thanks once again for sharing the post.

  11. Hi Harleena Mam,

    This is just a awesome post and I loved the way to spread positive energy though your blog.God will always answer prayers if we made it form our deep heart and some time he did not answer or took long time because he had some great plan for us.Like Moses prayed to god to destroy non believers and god approved the prayers as well.but God took 40 year to implement it.

    So this is just a small example that how god has some good and different plans for us and yes he also wait for good time.

    Congrats once again for this soul full post

    Regards,

    Shahnawaz Sadique

  12. Hi Harlenna,

    Thank you for this wonderful post. As a Christian I am a firm believer in prayer. For me, it allows me to truly connect with God. Sometimes that can be just a few simple words and other time it is more intense and involves fasting.

    When I pray I definitely feel more connected, at peace, and generally happier. It is so hard to explain but those that practice it and have experienced it definitely understand.

    Prayer changes our mindset as well and I believe positive thinking has away of playing a part in our healing. Thank you again for such an insightful post!

  13. Hi Harleena,
    You have write a very good thing in this blog.I think its a universal truth that prayer help for healing people.

  14. Hello Harleena

    It was such a lovely and powerful post that I went on reading forgetting about the length.
    I do pray , believe in prayers but never thought to share my feeling and beliefs about prayers in this way.
    Prayers do heal but they do so many wonders as you have listed many in your post like giving you , mental , physical , emotional and spiritual powers.
    According to my belief the essence of worship is prayer. I first time came to know that prayer is categorized in four different types. It was wonderful knowing this.
    It really is a connection and a interaction with God. As far the acceptance of prayers from the superpower ( God) is concerned is different and there is no way we know if our prayers will be accepted or not but here we again believe that what we ask with full heart and devotion is never rejected. I also came to know from many resources that God sometimes holds and give us best at a suitable time and if in case our prayer is not even accepted late then we will have a reward in our other life after death. May God protect , guide , bless us and give us the power to pray and belief to accept His decisions.
    Thank you for a wonderful and spiritual post , I must say.

  15. Hi Harleena,
    Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, so if you have believe and faith your prayer will defiantly heal you.

  16. There is a lot of powers in prayer. It has been said that, “Seven days without prayer, makes one weak.”

    Prayer is very powerful force. We underestimate it so much. Prayer can move mountains if only we would let it. If only you would realize just how powerful prayer can be, you would never feel hopeless.

    ~Diana

  17. Yes, definately because when we pray we actually talk to ourselves, we talk to our conscience and we directly talk to that unwavering energy to which we name as GOD.
    It is a peace giving activity.

  18. Very interesting Harleena!

    I believe, to an extent, that pray can help heal. I’m skeptical on if prayer helps someone who needs healing from some physical ailment and or danger. I’m more of the believer on the psychological and emotional aspect of prayers help healing.

    I love how you have explained the different kinds of prayers above. Whether we are religious or spiritual, I believe everyone prays in their own way. Whether they believe it helps, I’m unsure.

    Regards
    Jery

  19. Hey Harleena,

    Great topic here. I really believe in prayer. More so now than I did in the past even though I was going to a religious function. I would say now I’m more spiritual because of this.

    I believe prayer is the communicative gateway to your Higher Self and God, and now that you mentioned the different prayers, it looks like I do more meditative prayers. Talking, listening, and most of all feeling. It reminds me of how I respond to music, getting on beat, and feeling it. When I was teaching salsa, a lot of students would ask me how to get on rhythm. I would tell them that they would just have to feel it which was an answer they didn’t like. Then I’d advice them to do it on the Clave, which they didn’t like either LOL. But dance and music in general is definitely a spiritual experience.

    Yes there are times where I feel depressed or have some other negative emotions. Like I do with dance and music, I just let myself go and just connect. I don’t know if it’s my higher self or that higher power, but when I do that and just focus on feeling good, all of those negative vibes starts to dissipate. I’ve been doing that a lot lately and it’s just amazing what comes out of this!

    Thanks for sharing an incredible topic Harleena! You have a great weekend!

  20. Hi Harleena,

    I had an aha moment a few years ago, when I noticed that in Mark 10:52, Jesus said, “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” What He didn’t say was, “Go thy way; I have healed thee.”

    We’ve all read stories of people recovering from terminal illnesses, after taking a “powerful new drug” (actually a placebo). Belief is a powerful thing indeed. If prayer triggers belief, there’s not much it can’t accomplish. But is it the prayer itself, or the belief in that prayer, that gets the job done?

    I was raised in a very religious Mennonite home (like the show “Breaking Amish”). It was all I knew, and by age 31 I’d become an ordained minister. While I eventually questioned everything I’d been taught growing up, there are many principles that appear in most religions that ring true. Faith can move mountains.

    – Cole

  21. Prayer is a complicated one for me. I grew up in a very orthodox school where we prayed daily, but at a certain point it lost meaning because it was expected and then reinforced with guilt and fear. I moved rather far away from religion at that point in my life, although I never moved away from meditation.

    In a way, that is my form of prayer. I don’t like to ask for things, but I do meditate on being grateful, clear minded, not comparing myself to others.

    Perhaps those are the same thing?

  22. Very interesting Harleena!

    I believe, to an extent, that pray can help heal. I’m skeptical on if prayer helps someone who needs healing from some physical ailment and or danger. I’m more of the believer on the psychological and emotional aspect of prayers help healing.

    I love how you have explained the different kinds of prayers above. Whether we are religious or spiritual, I believe everyone prays in their own way. Whether they believe it helps, I’m unsure.

    Makes ya really think my friend.

  23. Hi Harleena,

    Absolutely young lady, I most definitely do believe that prayer works. I pray every single day and I pray for my friends and family members that need it for healing and luckily for me I haven’t had any health issues myself where I’ve needed this on me.

    I shared a story in a past post about my Dad and the experience he had before one of his cancer surgeries. It was one of his earlier ones, he had six total.

    It was right before he was to go in for surgery and our preacher had come to pray with Dad. The preacher was sitting on the side of the bed and he and Dad were praying together. All of a sudden my Dad jumped up some from the bed where he was laying looking startled. He asked the preacher if he had seen that bright light. The preacher told him no and Dad said that as they were praying he had this deep sense of calmness come over him and he just knew with everything that he was that everything was going to be okay.

    He went in for surgery and they told us they didn’t think he was going to make it. That happened three times actually during his surgeries but we always knew he would pull through and he did. Even his last ride to the hospital in an ambulance, they told us he wouldn’t make it through the day and he did.

    The power of prayer definitely works and if you continue to believe and know within your heart that it will be okay then it will. I firmly believe that Harleena with everything that I am.

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful subject with us and I can tell from a lot of the responses that they feel the exact same way and have had their own experiences.

    ~Adrienne

  24. Hi Harleena

    Very good explanation of prayers. I have had my lows and highs of religion not sure where I stand on all of that. Too many hypocrites that I grew up around. Anyways, I do believe there is a power higher than us. Won’t go into what I believe here as it is not important to your post. But I do believe in praying. You are right sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. My friend that has cancer, on my one conversation with her she said a preacher came into see her when she was in pain and prayed at her side. She said for the rest of the day she had no pain.

    I have heard of many miracles on prayer and believe, just as in meditation or putting hands on people to heal them. There is energy in these motions and anything can work with an energy field. As we are all energy.

    Mary

  25. Harleena,

    You hit my favorite topic and one lots of folks don’t want to talk about. I do pray all the time. It gives me the sense of peace. When praying, I connect myself with God, and time slips away. I start my day with thankful prayers. I thank God for so many things. I do this all throughout the day.

    I do believe prayer does heal if it is God’s will. When my husband had prostate cancer, doctors told him he had a 2cm tumor that probably had cancer spreading to all parts of his body. 2 doctors confirmed it.

    To make a very long story short, we prayed. We had been put on prayer chains. I asked God to please heal my husband, and if it was not in His will, to hold me up to endure this.

    When we went for his robotic surgery, surgeon said that there was no tumor!
    The prostate was removed with minimal damage. Thank you God!

    That was six years ago and many doctors were surprised. We weren’t because we believed in the power of prayer.

    Oh boy can I write a book on the many “miracles” I have witnessed through God’s intervention.

    As a Catholic, this is the season of Lent, whereby we are in deep prayer for 40 days and nights. It is a spiritual time where we fast, do good deeds and pray for others. Informal and formal praying until Easter where we celebrate.

    People may think that we just give up chocolate or stuff like that, but it is more intense. We prepare our souls to be one with God.

    Thank you Harleena for bringing up this powerful topic.

    -Donna

  26. Hi Harleena,

    Thank you very much for this awesome post… 🙂

    But for me, I stopped praying to GOD since August 2010… Doctor told me that I am suffering from a disease called AVN of Hip joint… It means that I have NO blood circulation in my both hip joints…

    Chances of this disease is 1 in a million… Why me???…

    Sorry, I am NOT able to control my emotions after reading your post… I hope you will understand that…

    I had to quite my almost perfect job,I had to sell my house for my treatment and support my family…

    But, I do NOT know, how my Mother never lost her faith in GOD and kept on praying to GOD for my health everyday every moment… more and more…

    She was able bring back the faith in me too… Now, I pray to GOD not for me, but for her… I request GOD to listen to my Mother`s prayers… 🙂

    I believe, GOD only shows you the doors… you are the one who is going to decide which door you want open and make your own path…

    Your decision makes you HAPPY or SAD…

    But most of the cases people blame GOD or others for their suffering… and when they are HAPPY they forget to thank GOD or others who had contribution in his/her happiness…

    Most of the cases people pray to GOD but never act or work to make that wish come true…

    For example:

    1. I have seen many people pray for their child`s education… But in reality they never bother to push their child to study harder… What they do?… They send their child to 5-6 coaching centres and Pray to GOD… Never spend enough time to evaluate…

    2. Many people pray for their LOVE… But forget to tell their LOVE how much they LOVE him/her or how much important they are in his/her life… They just pray to GOD…

    Regards,

    Karmakar

    1. Hi Karmakar,

      Glad you like the post.

      I’m sorry for your suffering and I can understand how must it feel. Those are the times when we tend to lift our faith from God and stop believing. We like to use logic and reasoning that is limited to our level of intelligence and understanding, not really comprehending that the world is run by someone or some power that is beyond our scope of understanding in our natural form.

      You might think that I can say all this because I’m not at the receiving end and I’m not suffering. Though everyone suffers in some or the other way, I cannot understand your suffering but I try to fully emphasize with you.

      Your mother seems to be a brave and great lady. She’s held on to the rope of hope so the storms of emotions and disturbances of situations do not sweep her off the ground. I’m glad you’ve too started believing in prayers to respect your mother, and know that they do have great powers. If you read some of the comments above, you’ll understand everything.

      You’re absolutely right that our fate depends on our actions. God shoves opportunities to your side and rest all depends on you, and your “purusartha”, if you’ve heard about this term. I’ve written posts earlier that tell us that our happiness depends on the choices we make, and our attitude towards life. Literally, as you say, the decision to be happy or sad is entirely in your hands.

      Only the weak or ignorant play the blame game, or we do so in our down times. That’s what happens, when you’re happy you forget to thank and give credit, but you don’t forget to blame and curse when sad! 🙂

      Definitely, there has to be a protocol of many things and factors along with the prayer for them to be eligible for consideration by God. 🙂 Only wishes don’t work, you need to work too. Praying but not doing your duty and not carrying our your responsibility is like being a defaulter, isn’t it?

      Thanks for your candid views and for sharing your life experiences. I wish and pray that your and your mother’s prayers get answered and you all live in happiness. Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend ahead! 🙂

      1. Hi Harleena,

        Thanks for this reply…

        After submitting the 1st comment I started thinking that I should NOT have done that.

        It was too emotional… 🙂

        Thanks for the understanding… 🙂

        Regards,

        Karmakar

        1. You are most welcome Karmakar to share your emotions and feelings with us – that’s just what perhaps makes Aha!NOW a little special from the other blogs 🙂

          It’s always a pleasure to hear my readers be so open and frank with me. Thanks once again 🙂

  27. Hello there people, I personally thank you all for the responses. I don’t believe in prayers and God thing, but people and faith and hope. It gives us more courage and strength to overcome a situation or a problem. I personally feel it’s a one best thing I ever did in my life.

    Please, I’m insulting you folks, but sharing what I wanted to say. People these days became more artificial than ever before. All they do love is money and recognition in society and within people who really don’t care.

    Without any truthfulness and kindness in your heart and soul how a person could do prayers for an unknown almighty with hope…? Correct me, If i’m wrong…:)

    1. Hi Suresh, Welcome to my blog! 🙂

      It’s great that you believe in people, and know the important of faith and hope in making our lives happy and beautiful. Even if you do good, be positive, and spread the love, your life becomes like a prayer, and good things will happen to you.

      Whom do you have faith and hope in, yourself or other people? It’s good to be confident and hopeful, and being that surely helps us overcome problems. There’s no denying that. But we’re not infallible, and then we search for some perfection that we can depend upon always, without fail.

      As you say, you can’t depend much upon people, but you can on that power which created everything. Let’s not talk of others but your own self, and if you’re true and kind in your heart, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? For it’s always between you and God. But you’re right that if you are not pure and true to yourself, your prayers will not be effective.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views and some good questions. I hope the answers you read in the post and the comments do help you. Have a great weekend ahead! 🙂

  28. Hi Harleena,

    This is a wonderful post. I’m a Christian and a strong believer in prayers. I’ve had so many prayers answered that I can’t even count them. But in terms of healing, yes I’ve prayed for healing many times and God has healed me. But not just me, I’ve prayed for family members and friends and they’ve been healed.

    This is just one testimony of healing. One day my youngest daughter had a bad headache. We were going to a town to buy something. After I parked the car I put my hand on her head and prayed for the headache to stop. A few minutes later she told me that the pain left. She also said as I prayed she felt heat coming from my hands. I didn’t’ take any praise for that healing, because I knew it was God who healed her through me.

    I’ve got lots more testimonies about healing, but can’t share them all in this comment.

    Thanks for this inspirational post. Have a great weekend. 🙂

    1. Hi June,

      Ah…this seems to be yet another new blog of yours, that’s nice! Glad you liked the post, and yes, I can make out you are a strong Christian believer from the new blog links name 🙂

      I completely agree with you and feel the same way – I think we tend to lose count. Yes, prayers for healing does work, for ourselves and for others too. I’ve experienced that myself, when I felt someone’s prayers saved my life on the day we had a near-to-death accident a few years back. So, miracles do happen.

      Yes, such kind of healing prayers can do wonders, as it happened with your daughter. I think when your heart’s intentions are pure and you pray, He listens and helps in the healing process. Sometimes of course it takes time or it doesn’t even work, but such as His ways, which we have to accept.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences with us 🙂

  29. Hi Harleena,
    It has been my experience that if you want a specific answer to prayer, you need to pray specifically. For example, I prayed Lord, I don’t wish to lose my best friend John. If you want to take him that’s up to you. I only ask that if you intend to heal him, that not only he come to the banquet tonight, but that he is next through the door so I will know.
    It could have been anyone next through the door. But as you may imagine, it was John. The very next day, the 6th round of chemo ate up his cancer and he is healthier than ever. That was 10 years ago.

    I also believe in quiet, meditative prayer. God knows our needs. Some people get in prayer circles and it is more like gossip than genuine concern for the person in need of prayer.

    So glad you wrote this Harleena. I’ve thought for a while to do a post on this very topic. You’ve pretty well covered it all. 🙂

    Blessings!
    Bill

    1. Hi Bill,

      I think you’ve revealed one of the best logic and secrets of prayers and how to get them fulfilled! 🙂 Of course, you need to be specific in your prayer as that will show your exact intent and that you know what you want. The more specific you’re, the more directed and coherent it is like a laser. Needless to say that this has to be reasonable and you should not treat God like Aladdin’s genie, who will do as you direct!

      Thanks for sharing that wonderful experience in your life about your prayer and it getting fulfilled. It’s simply awesome! It shows that your belief was too strong and prayer so pure. I’m so happy to know about the recovery of your friend John, and wish you both a happy friendship forever!

      That’s true – we can’t hide anything from God, He knows everything – including our intentions and thoughts. I agree that a quiet meditative prayer solves the purpose. But then, there are all sorts of people at various levels of intelligence and understanding, and so everybody has the right to chose how they wish to connect to God, isn’t it? But if you’re not serious and sincere, then it’s not much helpful.

      I’m glad you like the post and I’d suggest you still go ahead with writing your piece as I’m sure you’ll have different and more nuggets of wisdom in it! 🙂

      Thanks for visiting and sharing useful experiences, thoughts and views. I really appreciate it. Do have a great weekend ahead! 🙂

  30. I’ve been struggling with a chronic infection over the past year or so and it’s really hard to stay positive. I’ve been praying a lot, but feeling as if it does nothing. Thanks for sharing this – made me a little more optimistic!

    1. Welcome to the blog Carol!

      I can understand how tough things can get when you have health issues that can often turn you to think negative. If you’ve tried medicines and they didn’t help, you’ve got prayers, which I’m sure would help you – but things take time. We just need to keep the faith and keep praying – good things happens to those who wait 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by and I hope you feel better soon. We’d all pray for you too. 🙂

  31. Harleena your love faith and committment to make your readers life happier and more meaningful, shines through this post. Probably one of the most through post I have ever read abt prayer and healing. Thank you for writing and sharing. Keep shining xxx

    1. Hi Ntathu – nice to see you after long 🙂

      I appreciate your kind words, they mean a great deal coming from a dear friend. I am so glad you liked this post and it could pull you away from your busy schedule.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views with us 🙂

  32. Hi Harleena,

    What a wonderful post. I love this kind of topic. <3

    Meditation is God speaking to us in His words, while Praying is it brings us up to God. He doesn't come down to connect. We come up to Him to connect. Am I right?

    When praying something, it should line up to the Will of God. Sometimes we pray something that is not good for us, and God doesn't want us to be unhappy and so He will not answer "Yes" but "No" in a prayer. A good example of this is the story of a woman who has a sick child. She prayed to God, that if God didn't cure her child, she would stop believing in Him. Well, God did cure the child and once the child grew, he became a gangster. Sometimes, this type of compromises with God is not a good thing. Like they say, "Be careful what you asked for."

    I have heard some people who have cancer and a group of people praying to God asking to cure this person, and God answers prayer & cured the person and made him whole. Cancer is gone. I really believe in "miracles". If it's the Will of God to have this person live, He will do it. "Ask and it shall be given unto you."

    The bible quote, "Whatever ye so desire believe that you receive them and you will have them."

    The word "BELIEVE" is so important. God said, "If ye have faith as much of a mustard seed…nothing is impossible unto you." How big is a mustard seed? Very tiny. He didn't say "if you have MORE faith…" but "If you have faith as much as a mustard seed…" therefore, all we need is THAT much faith to make things happen. Some people say, "Oh, if I have more faith…" I used to say this. The thing is, I didn't really have faith to begin with coz if only I had faith just as much of a mustard seed…I can move mountains!

    Either believe or not believe. There is nothing in between. You either do or you don't.

    So when people say, "I prayed and prayed for my painful knee and God have never answered." Did you believe? Or maybe He didn't want to cure your painful knee because He knows the consequences that might happen next. Just believe. Just trust. He knows better than we know ourselves. He said, "Even your hairs are numbered." How much do we know how much hair we have exactly? Only God knows.

    One thing I've noticed when I pray for a long time, say 20-30 minutes, and I'm pouring to Him all my problems and the cares of this world, I've notice that I feel much lighter and it was like a burden have lifted off of my shoulders. It's a strange feeling. But it is very empowering. Talking to God bring me *up* to God.

    Angela

    1. Hi Angela,

      I’m glad you like the post and that this was a topic of your liking. 🙂

      Any view is correct if the end is good and helpful. I believe God is within so we need to go deep down within to connect to Him. You’re right about the concept of meditation and prayer. I’d further say that if we’re always mindful and our life is a prayer, then God is besides us always, isn’t it?

      I like your thoughts and examples. I think we’re like children before God, who is the parent, and He knows best, more than us. So instead of stubbornly demanding something, we should just put forth the request and ask God to fulfill only if He thinks it is good for you and if He wills. That way, you put the responsibility on God and you don’t be greedy or selfish. But then you should also not crib later and accept whatever what decides. Like in your example, you get what you ask for, so be careful and rely on your parent’s judgement for things you don’t know and have faith.

      You’re right and I too have heard of such cases of curing by miracles. Though I haven’t had the first hand experience, but a few commenters too have given the account of their such personal experiences. I believe there are lots of factors that God considers before miracle happens, and that is why there are not so common.

      The Bible quote is absolutely correct and that is what the modern age spirituality also adopts, like as in the law of attraction. You’ve mentioned some really wonderful and inspirational quotations. It’s so right about the faith as much of a mustard seed, which grow in a plant or tree of faith if nurtured well, instead of the seed of doubt, which will take you down into the darkness. Faith can move mountains, true!

      I agree that believing is so essential, and also surrendering and faithfully accepting – there are combination of qualities that make way for a miracle to happen. Everything you wrote is so true – we do think alike! 🙂

      It’s good to talk to God and like a friend and a parent, share everything and confide in. This helps us remain sane, stabilize our mind and emotions, and help us recharge and refresh ourselves. It’s not being selfish but being true to your relationship with God, isn’t it?

      I appreciate your wonderful thoughts, experiences, and words of your wisdom- it’s all so true and helpful!

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing it all with us – and do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  33. Hello harleena,

    Thank you for this insightful post. I visited your blog to read some of your self development posts and this post caught my attention. To be honest I don’t know much about prayer because till today I am not religious. But I have been thinking about it much lately, because my girlfriend who I met a year ago believes in god and she prays a lot. For me it is all very new, but I am learning about God and also praying now for the first time in my life.

    This post taught me a lot about praying and it helps me in my religious journey. I hope you will keep on writing about this topic.

    I really like your blog by the way. My girlfriend and I just started a self development blog (life balance, personal success and a bit of traveling) a few months ago and you are an inspiration for us. Perhaps we can write something for your blog in the future!

    Kind regards,

    Bastiaan

    1. Welcome to the blog Bastiaan!

      Glad you liked the post and could relate to it, and yes, there are lots of posts on self-development and inspiration too, if you’d like to go through them 🙂

      That’s absolutely alright – some people just aren’t, but it’s never too late to start. Perhaps your girlfriend is the medium sent by Him to connect you to the Almighty, so you are indeed lucky to have her in your life I’d say.

      I hope to as well, though this isn’t my first post on prayers, as you can see the others I’ve written – I’ve linked them within this post itself so that it’s convenient to relate.

      I appreciate your kind words of appreciation, and it’s surely good to know about your blog, which I shall surely visit to say ‘Hello’ to both of you. Yes, if you keep coming and become a community member of the blog, you might just get an invitation to guest post here.

      Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice week ahead 🙂

  34. Hello Harleena,

    It’s really a great article madam… Prayer is one of the best thing which automatically connect the our call with God.. You can say it’s like a International call at the local rate..

    1. Hi Himanshu,

      Glad you liked this post on prayer for healing, and I think it does work, doesn’t it? 🙂

      Lol…I like that comparison you made – yes, it is like an International call made to God and he receives it each time we call, though sometimes we are on hold for a while, so we need to be patient and keep trying!

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us 🙂

  35. Hello Harleena,

    According to me, prayer is the best way to get relieve from tension, to pass good result, to get promotion in job & finally helps to make us calm & quiet. Prayer makes us helps to think positive & help us to avoid bad works.

    You added some good points to make everyone know the importance of knowledge. I think we must pray regularly & grateful to Allah for this nice & beautiful life.

    Have a blissful weekend 🙂

    1. Hi Ahsan,

      Yes indeed, those are great benefits of prayers too, though I think we should pray without seeking anything, something that most of us don’t often do. Make it a daily habit and not just when you want or need something. But yes, prayers have lot of powers, provided you believe in them.

      Absolutely! God is one, and all you need to do is remember Him each day and thank him for this precious life He’s given us with so much to be grateful for 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views with us 🙂

  36. Hi Harleena,

    Yes ma’am I do believe in the power of prayer. When I talk to friends or family who are ill or facing a serious illness I always remind them God has the final say and not the doctors.

    Not only do I pray for those in need of healing but I also pray for the doctors and nurses who are caring for them. The God guides them so that they can provide the best treatment and care.

    I had been praying for my sister in law who found out she had cervical cancer. She recently celebrated being cancer free. And that right there only strengthened my faith and belief in prayer.

    This is such a lovely post Harleena. I love how you said prayer is a form of treatment and free for us all. That is so true!

    I also believe when we pray for others our lives balance out as well.

    Thanks for putting this together for us. I really hope those who still doubt will believe just a little more after reading your post.

    Happy Wednesday dear!

    1. Hi Corina,

      Good to hear that, and yes, that’s just the way it is! He always has the final say, we are actually no one, and all one can do from our side is pray and believe, isn’t it?

      That’s wonderful indeed to pray for those who take care of us, the doctors and nurses because they need guidance too. I’ve seen so many doctors pray too before they operate or treat serious patients, which speaks about their faith in the Almighty.

      That’s wonderful news! Such things make you believe more in Him. Yes, my mom didn’t survive cancer but that didn’t stop me from praying because it was perhaps destined and we have to much to be grateful for in life that we need to overlook what we aren’t given at times. I remember the near-to-death accident I had, and it was someone’s prayers that saved me that day – that’s why I am here with you all – some purpose yet to be accomplished I guess.

      Praying for others has more effect than praying for yourself, that’s what my parents told me – so always pray for the well being of others, and they’d do it for you too.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂

  37. Hello Harleena,

    Nice to know that you believe in God. I think that this fact also vary’s from person to person. Some one believe in God and others doesn’t. But, a very informative post thanks for sharing that among us.

    1. Hi Vikas,

      Oh yes…I DO! I always have and I think most of us do, isn’t it? Yes, some people are non-believers and perhaps they’ve their own reasons, but without faith and belief, I wonder how one can carry on in life.

      Thanks for stopping by, and glad you liked the post 🙂

  38. Hi Mam,

    Wonderful post.

    Don’t know about others, but prayer is really works lot for me. We have to believe God, and prayer is not like begging, we have understand one thing, we are the children of god. There is no need to beg from our parent of parent of parent… it goes on(God). We are just asking something to the God, it may be jesus christ, God Shiv or Masha Alla.

    Just asking doesn’t matters, if we ask with confident or belief we can surely get anything we need. God is within you, if you need something, ask yourself. Your inner mind(God staying there) will answer all sort of questions made by you. It also fulfill your desire and lead a beautiful path to your life. Believing yourself surely works, that is God according to me.

    There is no need to go to temple, mosque or church and there is no need to chant anything. Just believe yourself and get everything as your mind asks. Don’t Expect more from other, Expectation always fails. But Confident never fails. Like our great scientist Abdul Kalam, always have a dream, one day it will comes true. I made a post in my blog “Everything Begins and End With Us” make a view of it, if you are interested.

    Thanks for sharing such an interesting article Harleena Mam. Am always your fan of writing. I pray almighty for your success in life, business, blogging, etc and he will surely fulfill all your dreams.

    1. Hi Nirmal,

      Glad you liked the post, and yes, prayers always works for those who believe 🙂

      I agree with you completely – prayer is the one to one talk we have with Him, and should be done not only to ask something for him as that makes us greedy, though most people remember him at time of their need, but should be conducted daily.

      God is in all of us, as you rightly mentioned, we just need to find or seek Him in our innerself, which again few are able to really do. I guess taking out that kind of quiet and peaceful time is also a criteria and remembering him with a pure heart.

      There are many ways in which He is remembered. Some believe in attending the religious places and chanting His name as they say when you pray in a community as in temples, you pray with others, for others also, so your prayers are perhaps heard, while some believe that because God is within, why visit such places – your heart or innerself is your temple. Each to his/her own way of thinking, as long as they remember to pray. Yes, that title looks interesting and I shall surely read it.

      Thanks for stopping by and for your words of appreciation regarding my work. You too write well and I wish you continued success in your life too 🙂

  39. Great post on prayer!

    I pray all of the time. I believe in the power of prayer and intention. I ask the Divine (term I like to use) for guidance or whatever it is I’m praying for. I say “Thank You” and feel and believe that my prayer has already been answered.

    You can use prayer for healing by praying for (fill in the blank) and thanking God, Source, Universal Intelligence, the Divine, or whatever term you use for the spiritual force of the universe.

    1. Hi Amandah,

      Glad you liked it 🙂

      I’m sure you do, and yes, that’s another good term we could use. I guess it all depends on what we would like to call Him, and with the many religions, people can find any name they like to remember Him, isn’t it?

      Thanking the Almighty is so essential, even for the smallest of things. Sometimes even for what we don’t have, to thank Him for what we already do. I agree with you entirely there – there is just SO much to be grateful for all the time.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us 🙂

  40. hello Mam..
    I think Prayers has everything.They can heal and can destroy.Everyone should devote some time in prayers and thats the only way to reach the god.

    1. Welcome to the blog Vijay!

      Absolutely! Prayers are everything, though I don’t think they can destroy anything – the can only heal and give. Devoting a little time for prayers doesn’t cost you much. Instead, it takes you a little closer to Him and your innerself, isn’t it?

      Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  41. Hi Harleena,

    I have always been sceptical about the power of prayer, I never understood the arguments of those who regularly went to places of worship or prayed everyday. I have always believed that ‘God Is Near’, if we are sincere, kind and compassionate. My place of worship was always my classroom.

    What a coincidence that my tomorrow’s planned post is something like this but talks more about my personal experience with the existence of any such force, which would respond to our prayers.

    Not I didn’t try, I did but when i found no response for my prayers…[you know how impatient we are when we are young] I decided this is all a hype… prayer has been created by MAN for his own selfish motives and peace of mind and shifting all the responsibilities and blames to whosoever he chooses to pray to!

    Then I read that famous story of Leo Tolstoy ‘God Sees the Truth but Waits’…and I was doubly sure He waits too long! SO long that by the time He realises the innocence of man, he is about to die! I could never reconcile to the other interpretation of the story given by many wise persons that God was waiting for the criminal to confess, He was waiting for the salvation of the protagonist and the redemption of the criminal.

    However I was impressed when I read that Dr. Christian Barnard prayed before performing his first open heart surgery! Though I can now understand the power of prayer, I still believe it is more helpful in providing us confidence, it makes us intrepid and anxiety free. We tend to pass on all our worries to God and sleep soundly, with the conviction that he will solve all our problems!

    I hope you will read more about all this tomorrow at my blog. Thanks for another wonderful post! Have a nice week.

    1. Hi Balroop,

      I agree with you in one thing that it is not necessary to go to various places to pray and that God is within us around us. However, I can understand if some people go to places of worship because they find there peace, spiritual environment, and like-minded people for a company.

      Work is worship too, and if you’re totally engrossed in what you do, and are a person with good intentions and feelings, then your work and life is a prayer, isn’t it?

      That’s really a great coincidence and such incidents happen with like minded people! I’d like to read your personal experiences in your post. 🙂

      I understand that it is very difficult to understand at a young age that there may or may not be results of your prayers as you expect and that it can take a great deal of time too so you need to have some patience. But if you lose faith in the way, then you lose everything.

      Yes, prayer is created by us and it’s a great tool or technique that probably the ancient humans discovered. The reasons would’ve been selfish initially but later transformed into deeper spiritual motives.

      I’d say Leo Tolstoy was right, as God does check on very many other things too, like how much deserving you’re to be answered the prayer in the way you want. I’m glad that you now believe in the power of prayer. Yes, it does do all the things that you mentioned, but on a spiritual level it does much more! I’m sure there’ll be positive experiences in your life, and since we’re all learning, you might really start believing totally.

      Actually, it’s all in the state of mind and heart, and how strong is your conviction, but then each one to own. We form our opinions by what we experience and undergo as that seems to be the truth to us. I’m looking forward to reading your story. 🙂

      Thanks for sharing your story and experiences and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  42. I believe in God and absolutely believe prayer for healing can work. (Not always–God might have different plans.) As you suggest, we also need to pray in gratitude and praise.

    1. Hi Susan, good to have you back! 🙂

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts and views, and its good to know that you too believe in prayer for healing.

      That’s true, God’s reply to your prayers may not be as you expect, because He has different plans. One more thing that prayer does is not let our ego grow strong such that we think we’re everything, isn’t it?

      Thanks for stopping by and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  43. Hi Harleena!

    Yes! I strongly believe in the power of prayer. But–and it’s sort of a big but–the way I studied to pray is called “treatment.” There is a branch of spirituality in the U.S. that is called New Thought. It isn’t as well known as many of the larger sects but it approaches religion more as spirituality and also recognizes that a strong belief in a power greater than ourselves can be defined in many different ways. The way treatment is approached is probably closer to your definition of meditation/prayer than any other. Of course it is much more involved that I can explain here but it has great value just as your forms of prayer. The most important is to do it of course!!!

    1. Hi Kathy,

      Good to know that you too believe in the power of prayer, though you call it by a different name, and that’s perfectly okay!

      It’s good to know about New Thought and its principles. I admire any community or religion that emphasizes on spirituality. And that’s we all do – believe in a higher and Supreme power or energy that governs the Universe and our lives too.

      Thanks for making us aware of the concept of ‘treatment’. I’d say prayer and meditation are one’s best friend, and even all other modifications and advanced forms like treatment.

      Yes, lectures and teaching apart, what matters more is the practice and implementation.

      Thanks so much for adding valuable information. I appreciate it. Thanks for visiting and have a great day ahead! 🙂

  44. A very interesting topic Harleena,

    In my own opinion, prayer is a very good healer. I’ve seen so many situations where someone with a very deadly disease that people thought will kill him but, he was healed with prayer.

    It has happened many times. Some time ago in my church, there was this woman who had Cancer that doctors said were incurable but the priest told her that what the doctors said was only their own opinion and that its not God’s opinion now guess what, the woman was later healed from this cancer after the priest prayed for him.

    But, it also goes with faith. Prayer can only heal you when you have faith and believe that it will heal you.

    Thanks for sharing.

    BTW: I’m sorry for not coming here all these while, I’ve been so busy and I’m sure you will also notice that from my blog.

    1. Hi Theodore,

      I’m glad you find the topic interesting. Nobody else told what you did here – people were healed of killer diseases by praying! That’s some great account and I’m sure those who believe in the power of prayers would be highly motivated to hear that. 🙂

      I believe your story because hardly sometime back I read a similar story in the newspaper about a woman who cured herself of cancer by healing prayers and the doctors were stunned!

      That’s right – that’s the condition and the strings that are attached – have faith or believe.

      Thanks for sharing your wonderful stories and accounts from experience, they really add value to the post. I understand that you’re busy and I absolutely don’t mind if you’re doing what is important to you, I’d always say that should be your priority.

      However thanks for taking time out and visiting and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  45. Absolutely, God is the healer and can perform miracles in your life.

    However, you have to remember that His prayers are answered in his timing, not our. I suffer from chronic pain and feel like he is using me to help others (God has a purpose for everyone). While it isn’t fun suffering, I often remember how Job felt int the bible. Instead of being bitter about being in constant pain, I started documenting my own journey in hopes to help other and I started blogging to take some of the focus off my own issues. I am unable to work a full time job because sitting up at a desk makes me very miserable and the amount of work at home jobs are dwindling.

    After my layoff, I started blogging full time, while laying propped up on the couch or in bed, so that I could write and engage with others on social media. This has kept me from going insane, helped decrease my depression, and it has allowed me to make awesome friends online. God can use you in your current circumstances if you allow him too. Ask God to show you want he wants from you and draw near to him. If it wasn’t for my faith in God, I would have given up a long time ago.

    Thank you for sharing this post and letting me share my story.

    1. Hi Christy,

      More words of wisdom on this post, and this time its from you – I’m so lucky to have such a wise community, whose lives are so full of rich experiences that can help other people.

      I entirely agree with you that God is the equation changer – He has the authority to break His own rules and surprise you! This is an important point that you contribute – His prayers are answered in His timing, not our. Everything is planned and purposeful, and there’s a time for everything… we just need this understanding to go deep into our hearts, isn’t it?

      I’m so inspired by your spirit and the courage to not lose heart and keep the faith. I’m so happy for you that you decided to not give up and do what you’re doing now! Of course, suffering is not fun, but your positive attitude has made you make the most of the situation you’re in.

      I didn’t know you’re going through so many problems and that only increases my respect for you – thank you for sharing your story and I’m sure others too will take heart from it. I agree that you need to give permission to God by surrendering yourself and be in communication through prayers.

      Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience, I really appreciate it. Do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  46. Hi Harleena,

    Awesome post!

    Prayer does work for healing. But I believe you’re heart also has to be in the right spirit with God. But we must also remember that God’s will be done.

    What you ask for may not always be what you want, even in healing but your prayers will never go unanswered. No matter what happens your prayers will help you be at peace with it.

    Blessings,
    Liz

    1. Hi Liz,

      Glad that you like the post. 🙂

      I totally agree that if its just utterance of prayers without the good intent and purest feelings and reverence and surrender to God, then its unlikely for healing and miracles to happen.

      This is what a few others too said above in their comments, and coming from you makes it more reinforced that God always answers to your honest and pure prayers, but He may answer in His mysterious ways that we need to decipher.

      A prayful person is always at peace and that comes from the undying belief that whatever God does is the best for you, isn’t it?

      Thanks for your wonderful thoughts and words of wisdom, they really help. Thanks for your visit and I wish you’ve a great day ahead! 🙂

  47. Hi Harleena,

    Does prayer heal. My response to that is, if it doesn’t I most likely wouldn’t be here. When I was born pneumonia was going around in the hospital. Low a behold I did catch it. 2 weeks into my life my parents rushed me to the hospital were they were told that I had double pneumonia and would not live through the night. My mother prayed and never gave up hope and here I am.

    I do not believe I would be here if my mother had not had the faith in prayer that she had. Also when I was married the first time and my worthless husband did not have a job and didn’t care to get one, I kept praying and praying. (what I was making with my work was not holding us above water) One night I was standing at the stove cooking what little food we had in the house. I felt as if I was standing on the edge of a cliff and was going over the edge. (I believe I was about to have a nerves break down) All of the sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was like it was pulling me back. And with that I had such an complete feeling of relief and knew at that moment everything was going to be alright. I do believe the hand of God or Jesus touched me that day. All I can say it was beautiful.

    The key to prayer is to have faith. If you don’t believe it is going to do any good it may not, however God just may surprise you and prove you wrong. It is his way of changing lives. I always remember to give thanks for what I do have.

    Like you say Harleena meditation is with the mind, prayer comes from the heart and soul.
    Very wise and good post once again. Your wisdom must come from God.
    Debbie

    1. Hi Debbie,

      Wow, thanks for sharing your miraculous life-saving event, and I know you’re saved to share your wisdom on Aha!NOW. 🙂 Prayer gives hope, and hope provides power and the will to live. In your case, your mother was highly motivated through prayers to let no stone upturned in trying to save your life. But the effect of prayer is more than that, and it has the power to make the impossible, possible.

      That’s another beautiful experience that you’ve shared and I too believe in what you say. Logic fails to define such experiences and only the one who experiences knows what it feels like. Yours prayers did wonders to you!

      I agree, you got to keep the faith, and believe beyond doubts. Sometimes God even helps those who don’t believe, and then those people start believing. It’s His mysterious ways and we need to be thankful for each and every thing, right?

      Don’t we say heartfelt prayers, and use phrases like from the bottom of my heart… because wishes and prayers are feelings or highly intense emotions, and if they’re pure, then they heal.

      Thank you for the kind words. Nothing of what I say is mine, even my life is not mine – it’s all His and I too sometimes feel surprised by what I say. This is what He wants me to say, and I’m happy with it. 🙂

      Thank you for visiting and sharing such great knowledge and rich experiences that teach us more about prayers. I really appreciate your time and effort and wish you a very happy week ahead! 🙂

  48. Hi Harleena,
    This is really an inspiring post.
    Yes, I do believe in Prayer
    and I am sure Prayer can changes things!
    And it can changes people and it can do miracles!
    One need to have a firm faith in it, then miracles happens. Yes, He is a Wonder working God prayer to Him
    will change, yes an encounter with God in prayer will surely make a tremendous changes even in a hard nut’s life! I am experienced this miracle in several people’s my life, and even individually and collectively I experienced this. I am sure this post will surely make an impact to those who believe in prayer as well even to the unbelievers!!
    Keep up the good work Harleena 🙂
    Best Regards
    Phil

    1. Hi Phil,

      I’m glad you like the post and that you too believe in the power of prayers.

      Definitely, you got to be big on faith, the undying kind of faith and a pure heart to make God move and create a miracle.

      It’s really great to know that you’ve experienced miracles personally in your life. It is my intent to create awareness and belief about the power of prayers, and I’ll be happy if even a few people do get inspired and motivated.

      Thanks for your visit and for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Have a great week ahead! 🙂

  49. Last year, I went to a program where Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of the internationally renowned book, “When Bad Things Happen To Good People” spoke at a local synagogue here in Orlando, FL. The event was open to the community. Nearly 1,000 people came from all different faiths. Rabbi Kushner talked about the power prayer, and whether you believe in a religion or God doesn’t matter. Just the act of praying, especially with others, provides strength, compassion, love, support, and healing. And yes, I most definitely believe in it.

    1. Hi Sheryl,

      I totally agree with the account of Rabbi Kushner’s words that you gave here. It’s not about religion at all, its your spirit or energy and the Supreme spirit or energy, and prayers are for all and work for all the same way. It’s good to know that you too believe in the power of prayers.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences and thoughts. I really appreciate it. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  50. Hi Harleena,

    When I saw your blog post’s title I thought that you must have read my mind. I’ve been offering healing prayers for my furry daughter this past week, and many of my friends have too.

    Besides the fact that I was sick all week, I found out about a health issue with my lovely Sophie whom I love to death. All this has kept me away from blogging and the online world, but has certainly made me pray every single day.

    I love what you’re saying about the mixture of prayer and meditation. Yes, it’s so powerful, and that’s what I’ve been doing.

    Experience has shown that when people pray without any doubt that’s when prayers tend to be answered the most. God likes when we ask with total belief.

    1. Hi Sylviane,

      I’m glad you could make it here. It’s a mere coincidence that I’ve come up with this post at a time when you’re going through a time that needs prayers.

      You’ve my prayers and best wishes too and it’s good to know that your friends too value and care for your feelings.

      I understand your absence from blogging and your priorities. Such are the times when our prayers come out from the bottom of our heart, and such are the ones that are really powerful.

      Every meditation that involves chanting becomes a combination of prayer and every prayer that involves deep concentration incorporates meditation into it. Together these indeed bring out powerful results.

      I totally agree with you that our prayers need to be doubt-free and pure to be eligible for consideration for action by God. I know you’re doing just that and we leave the rest up to God and accept His decision, right?

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings. I wish that your wish come true. 🙂

  51. I love this post. I do believe in the power of prayer, although I have come to not call it prayer, per se. Is there a god? I don’t know. But I do think that we are all connected by a universal, cosmic energy, and whatever type of energy you put out, you get back in return. Some call it karma. So if we’re putting out healing, loving energy, it only makes sense that it will return, in some form. As will negative thoughts. Why is it that a person doesn’t get healed when prayed for? It was not meant to be. That’s all. Karma again. We all have to die sometime and ours is not to question why. Thank you, Harleena, for the thought-provoking post. Sharing. 🙂

    1. Hi Jeanne,

      I’m so glad that you like this post! I respect your views and I too believe that we’re governed by some supernatural energy and you can call it whatever. Whether you call it prayer or something else, its form and essence remain the same, isn’t it?

      Everything works on the boomerang principle, except that the returns are not always as expected, instantaneous, and not in the way we think. There are secret formulas and principles at work besides other mechanisms that we can’t even think of to govern the entire Universe.

      So, the best we can do is play the game right and be good and pray persistently and be content with what we get. You’re right that we can’t afford to discredit or ignore Karma, since every action has a reaction, which science too believes in, therefore every act of ours has somewhat similar and equal action at any point of time in our lives.

      Great thoughts and discussion, Jeanne and I loved it! Thanks for visiting and doing what you did – I appreciate it very much. Do have a lovely week ahead! 🙂

  52. I use a form of prayer in my healing. And I think of it as just intention, and a bit of surrender and let go. It’s like I use an inner knowing to belief that everything will be alright and the badness I see is not real in the big picture. It is powerful for me, and sometimes people feel it who I am praying for. I am not sure why some feel it and some don’t but it’s no skin off my nose, so I just do it.

    1. Hi Jodi,

      Thanks for sharing your way of praying for healing. Of course, intention is at the base of every thought and action, and the results very much depend on that.

      You use the power of your belief in the form of a prayer to make desired changes or influences. That’s great and I’m sure its not as easy as it may sound.

      It also depends on the receptiveness of the receiver for your practice to be effectual, isn’t it?

      Thanks for letting us know how and what you do to help heal people and that is a very noble act to perform. I really appreciate your comment. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  53. Hey Harleena,

    I had to stop everything else I was doing to check out this post. I think it’s the first on the subject I have seen around the blogosphere

    Yes, I’m a strong believer in prayers. first, I consider prayer to be communication between man and any superior being. As a Christian, it’s communication between me and God. It really has to be communication – that is speaking to God and listening to him. In that case, every prayer has an answer and there are various ways God answers prayers. For the most part, this depends on the subject of praying

    Yes, prayers can heal. whether it is praying to the almighty God or to some god or spirit, it can help. If you call on the name of the god or God in whom you believe for healing, it can happen. In other words, healing can be an answered to a prayer made.

    But… someone can pray to his/her God for healing and no healing takes place. That doesn’t mean the prayer was not answered. The God prayed to may answer and say – no! I’m not healing you. That means the prayer was answered but the thing requested for denied.

    I see you tackled this from very exciting perspectives. Are you a pastor or spiritual leader 😉

    1. Hi Enstine,

      Thanks for taking out time to check out this post and I’m glad you find it different and interesting too perhaps. 🙂

      It’s good to know that you’re a believer in the power of prayers. Absolutely, prayer is the communication between us and the Supreme. I totally agree with you that there are many factors that come into play concerning the type of answer one receives from God.

      Sometimes we think that God has not answered, but even His “No” too is an answer that we fail to believe and then later put the blame on the prayers. That’s a great explanation there Enstine and thanks for it!

      Yes, healing can be one of the options that God chooses to answer, and as it is said that beggars are not choosers, so we settle with whatever God decides to give, right?

      However, many people experience healing and miracles too happen. It’s great to have this discussion and not talk about money and blogging all the time! 🙂

      Ah.. am not pastor and not even a leader, but yes I do have my spiritual inclination and I do learn many a things from my husband who is more spiritual than myself. I’m glad you like the post and I really appreciate your detailed comment and sharing of your thoughts and wisdom. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  54. I pray, I can’t see results but I still pray because I know someone listen me! Dear Harleena can you share the reason why you made my links from comments nofollow? Kind regards!

    1. Hi Daniel,

      It’s good to know that you pray, and you do that in spite of getting no results. That’s being wise and even if its a bit late by your standards, you’ll get a reply as the Universe listens!

      Thanks for asking but I did not make your comment nofollow and I guess if you’re talking about the Commentluv links, then probably I’ve a set it to be dofollow after a certain number of comments. I’m very sure yours should be dofollow very soon.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and views. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  55. There is no doubt that prayer really works. I do believe in it and for what God has done in my life, it is simply a miracle.

    Prayer unlocks every door and works in a way where many of us won’t understand.

    I like what the the unknown author said,’God answers every prayer just that the answers are no sometime’

    What one might deem being right might not be what God expects. Don’t forget HE is a miracle working God.

    This is really a great masterpiece.

    1. Hi Emmanuel,

      I’m glad you agree with the post and that you too are a believer. You too have experienced a miracle, and I think you had mentioned that in the previous miracle post on this blog.

      You’re absolutely right, the working for the Universe and prayers is mysterious and we possibly can’t comprehend everything. It’s a great way to say that “prayer unlocks every door..”

      Well said.. God has the right to give His own answer and you can’t just demand the answer that you like from Him every time! If we begin to understand God, we would reach to His level, which we are not, so its wise to accept his doings, right?

      Thanks for liking this post and I really appreciate your views on this post. Thanks for stopping by and adding value to the post. Have a great day! 🙂

  56. This is an interesting post and a difficult one to answer. Coming from a very conservative Hindu family, prayers are a part of life. I do prey both informally and formally at temples. But to ask if they work or not, I don’t know. There has been some evidence to show that prayers work and in some cases they have negative effect. For instance, there was a case when a group of critically ill people had prayers done for them but believe it or not those prayed for – many died. I will try to dig the source for you. But for the time being, we can say they do work or at least have a placebo effect.

    1. Hi Shalu,

      I know this is a bit difficult subject and could seem controversial to some too. The topic is subjective as well as objective and it all depends on your outlook.

      Yes, typically prayers are part of almost every Indian family. Honestly, most of it is ritualistic and can’t say how many really pray from heart for the sake of praying. Nevertheless, prayers are good to be a part of life, in whatsoever ways.

      Well, I do understand that sometimes prayers do not give results as we expect, but it is hard to believe that prayers have negative effect. Now, there are laws of nature or universe that have to work and sometimes no matter how we pray, we can’t change those laws. Like the case you mentioned, if someone is critically ill and doesn’t get cured, you can’t blame it on the prayers. And there can be so many factors for prayers to work and miracle to happen, and the most important being the person who’s praying and the circumstances.

      But yes, prayers do have powers and can be really effective to make your life easy if you believe in them. Believing doesn’t mean that it will work instantly for you every time you wish and however you want – you just believe that things would work, and be content and have faith, because thing take their own time. And if they don’t, then too accept it, because God always has greater plans that we cannot understand.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts and views. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  57. Hi Harleena,

    Glad to know you do believe in the power of prayer. And as far as I am concerned, I do believe (and not just believe but I know for sure) in the power of prayer.

    I have seen miracles happening my life many many times and have friends (and I keep that company around me) who are believers.

    Going through your post reminded me to the days in North Carolina when I used to go to organized prayer sessions with friends every Sunday for healing purposes. We all used to sit down and pray for those ill and we had a method to do this all.

    I don’t know (and I can’t quantify) how much it helped each person for who we prayed but one thing for sure:

    1. We felt much better after the sessions.
    2. We felt empowered
    3. We felt more connected to God
    4. We felt more connected with others and we could feel other people’s pain much easily and and have compassion naturally.
    5. More than anything else, we felt more alive

    Thank you for sharing this and in such a detailed manner as always. This will help many.

    Regards,
    Kumar

    1. Hi Kumar,

      It’s great to know that prayers work for you and that you too believe in the power of prayers.

      Prayers to me are very effective communication means, with my innerself and the universe, which comes to your calling and makes true your wishes. However, there are many strings attached. 😉

      Wow, you’ve been touched by miracles many times and that’s really good to know. Yes, I too believe in miracles, and I mentioned my experience in my miracle post few months back.

      The company you keep matters a lot. Having like-minded friends help you and more so when they too are believers.

      Thanks for sharing with us your experience of organized prayer sessions. It’s very interesting to know how prayers affected you even when you were prayers for others. Seems like these are very much the results as mentioned in the benefits of prayers section of this post. I’m glad those can be authenticated and so there are more reasons to believe in the power of prayers now!

      Thank you for your detailed comment and this adds great value to the post and I’m sure every reader would benefit from your experience. I really appreciate it. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

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