Why Does Praying for Someone Work?

Praying for someone is undoubtedly a noble and charitable attitude to adopt! When we care about a loved one or know of a group of people who are suffering, even though we cannot help them directly (materially, financially, or being with them in person, for example), we have the valuable resource of intercessory prayer on our side.

It occurs when we send our best feelings and vibrations of Fraternal Love, strength, and courage to our fellow beings. This powerful energy certainly results in countless benefits, not only for those who receive it, but also for the one who prays, as we will talk more about later.

We can all have this open dialogue with God, whether through prayer or meditation, regardless of religious traditions or philosophies of life.

So stop for a few minutes, think about this person or these people to whom you wish to send your energies of peace, health, and spiritual comfort, and turn your thoughts to Heaven. Say an intercessory prayer right now: 

Charity Prayer
Author: Malba Tahan

O Jesus, the Divine Model of Charity, whom human beings take long to understand, give us those pure feelings of Love for our neighbor, of which You left us admirable examples. Lord, make me love my fellow beings in a holy way, Out of Love for You and fulfilling Your New Commandment, which determines that we love one another as You have loved us. May I never suppose evil of them; may I help them with their needs, and, suffering their weaknesses in this world out of Love for You, Jesus, may I one day sing with them Your praises, on Earth as it is in Heaven!

The Benefits of Praying for Someone  

Praying for someone, we repeat, is also beneficial for those who pray, because in doing so, we put ourselves in the place of those who are suffering.

We start to see challenges in a different light. We overcome selfishness, we become more grateful for what we have, and we develop a feeling that is very important in life: empathy.

If we adopt a more empathic attitude, we reduce disagreements, improve relationships with those around us, and everyday life becomes less stressful and more harmonious as a whole.

Praying with a sincere Soul also strengthens our connection with God, Jesus, our Guardian Angels, and the Spirits of Light who also work for our happiness.

Does Jesus Tell Us to Pray for Others?  

Yes, He does! And where do we find this advice in the Holy Bible? Let’s open the Holy Gospel of Jesus according to Matthew 5:43 and 44, in which the Divine Master addresses the subject and urges us to go further in our daily attitudes:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” [Emphasis added.]

In other words, we must pray for our fellow beings and also remember those with whom we have disagreements and who, like us, are facing their trials. To do so, use empathy in your actions and even take advantage of this moment. Pray for these bonds of hatred to be broken and work towards achieving this.

God knows about everything we manifest, particularly our thoughts and feelings. Therefore, if you pray for others sincerely and try to be useful to others, this will be beneficial for all those who are involved in this act of Charity.

It’s worth saying that praying for someone doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t help them in other ways. Prayer should be combined with prevention, safety, and support actions whenever possible, and should never be used as an excuse for doing nothing when faced with what harms us or others.

Intercessory Prayer and Science 

In his book As Profecias sem Mistério [The Prophecies Without Mystery] (1998), the President-Preacher of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, José Paiva Netto, in the chapter “Prayer and Science,” presents a study on the benefits of intercessory prayer:

“As for the topic we are addressing, the recent article published by UnB Agência, on its website (www.unb.br), under the title ‘Effects of Prayer on Health’ is very timely. It presents a remarkable study by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Brasília (UnB), in which the action of prayer on human cells is clear.

“Physician and Professor of Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine (FMD) of the University of Brasília (UnB), Carlos Eduardo Tosta, does not consider himself to be a religious person in the conventional sense of the term. Even so, he combined science and religiosity in research he undertook over a three-year period (from 2000 to 2003) in the Laboratory of Cellular Immunology at FMD. His goal was to study the effect of prayer on people’s health. He used as a reference a pioneering 1988 study that was carried out in California, at the San Francisco General Hospital. Physician Randolph Byrd studied a group of 393 patients in the coronary Intensive Care Unit (ICU), all of who were receiving the same medical treatment. They were divided into two groups, one of which received intercessory prayer from a distance. The research results showed that after being prayed for, the sick improved in some aspects. They needed less medication, such as antibiotics and diuretics, suffered from fewer pulmonary edemas and less heart failure, and hardly needed to be intubated to maintain their breathing. In the research carried out at FMD, the difference was the involvement of healthy people, rather than sick people. Fifty-two medical students took part and were divided into same-sex and same-age pairs. The idea was to check whether intercessory prayer at a distance could alter the function of their defense cells, such as monocytes and neutrophils. To the team’s satisfaction, the results revealed that the defense cells were influenced by prayer. When the individuals who were prayed for were compared with those who were not, or the same individual was compared before and after being the target of prayer, it was shown that prayer increased cell function stability, which means that the cells worked better. ‘When we interpreted the data, we observed that prayer had the role of inducing balance and this makes sense since balance is synonymous with health in medicine,’ explained the researcher responsible for the study.”

With the results of this study and other points presented here, we reaffirm that praying for someone does work! It brings countless spiritual and material benefits. So let’s try to incorporate this good habit into our lives!

Writer Paiva Netto says, 

“When feeling disheartened, raise your heart on High to better tune in to the Superior Power. In this way, you will refuel your Soul for the challenges of life. You can rest assured: praying works.”  

Knowing it gives us the certainty that we can always be useful to our Brothers and Sisters in humanity, especially when we know the gifts that come from intercessory prayer.

If you wish, you can write the names of those for whom you are going to pray in the Book of Prayers of the Temple of Good Will—the Spiritual Headquarters of the Religion of the Third Millennium. Click here!