What are health benefits of prayer?

A personal matter: Prayer can make you feel good inside. It is useful for believers as it allows for an external comfort for ones problems. Tests of prayer for specific outcomes have never proven better than random. So it is not used medically but can be used personally.

Many: Studies on prayer show lower rates of depression & suicide in people who pray. They are more likely to recover quickly when ill. The most interesting studies showed that cardiac patients who were prayed for (by others) tended to fare better than patients who only received conventional care. Please read: http://stason.Org/tularc/health/alternative-medicine/prayer-health-benefits.Html.

Prayer's benefits: Prayer fulfils a powerful emotional need for some people. The psychological benefits of prayer have been documented. It's the act of prayer, the process, that effects the psychological benefits. Whether the prayer is "answered" or the object of prayer - a deity, supreme being, etc - is real, a figment of the believer's imagination, or a collective delusion, doesn't seem to matter.

Prayer: 1.Improves self-control. 2.Helps you not loose your cool. 3.Makes you more forgiving. 4.Increases trust. 5.Offsets negative effects of stress.