A randomized trial at the University of Maryland tested whether a brief, face-to-face prayer session could ease pain and anxiety more than five minutes of listening to music, and found that in-person prayer produced bigger and longer-lasting improvements for many patients while raising questions about human contact and causation.
The study recruited 180 adults in a family medicine waiting room who had reported moderate to severe pain, anxiety, or both, then randomly assigned them to one of two five-minute interventions after their appointments. One group received in-person Christian prayer from trained volunteers, and the other group spent the same time listening to music. Researchers measured self-reported pain and anxiety immediately after the session, then again at two and six weeks.
Results showed improvement in both groups, but the prayer group experienced larger drops in pain intensity right after the session and maintained better pain scores at two weeks. Anxiety improvements were even more striking: reductions in anxiety for the prayer group remained statistically significant at two and six weeks. The pattern suggests a brief, interpersonal spiritual practice can have effects that outlast the immediate encounter.
“Prayer is powerful and beneficial on many levels,” Jesse Bradley, pastor of Grace Community Church in Washington, said about the personal and communal value of the practice. He described prayer as a source of healing and comfort based on his own recovery experience. “Daily prayer was essential in my healing journey,” he added, underscoring why some patients seek spiritual care alongside medical treatment.
Clinician-researchers reported that the intervention was popular in the clinic setting. “It was very well-received,” Katherine Jacobson, M.D., said, noting that 97% of participants said they were “neutral or supportive” when asked about having this kind of prayer available as part of their medical visits. High acceptability matters if a health system considers offering optional spiritual support.
Importantly, the benefits did not depend on patients’ prior beliefs or expectations. “We expected that patients who expected prayer to work would benefit more, but that wasn’t what we found,” Jacobson said. “Religious affiliation, religious intensity and expectancy of healing did not predict who improved,” he went on. “Benefits appeared across a wide range of patients, including those not of the Christian faith and those who did not expect the intervention to help them.”
The authors were careful to point out limitations that temper the findings. Because the prayer group received direct human contact while the music group did not, subtle elements like eye contact or a hand on the shoulder could explain some improvement, since interpersonal contact alone can reduce pain. The trial could not definitively prove prayer itself caused the gains, and the researchers suggested future work include a control arm with equivalent interpersonal contact but no prayer.
Even with caveats, the investigators see practical implications for outpatient care. They propose asking patients about spiritual preferences as part of whole-person care and exploring whether trained volunteer prayer practitioners could be offered to interested patients in primary care. “For physicians and health systems, the study supports continuing to ask patients about spiritual care preferences as part of whole-person care, and considering whether trained Christian volunteer prayer practitioners could be integrated into outpatient settings for interested patients,” Jacobson said.
The trial casts proximal intercessory prayer as a low-cost, non-pharmacologic option that might complement standard therapies. Rather than replacing medications or therapies, this brief faith-based intervention could be offered alongside conventional care to help manage pain and anxiety for some people. The research team plans follow-up studies to isolate the effects of the spiritual practice from the effects of human touch and attention.
Clinics thinking about adding spiritual care should weigh acceptability, training, and boundaries. Volunteers delivering prayer would need consistent training, clear consent processes, and respect for diverse beliefs to avoid imposing practices on anyone. If done thoughtfully and offered only to those who want it, brief in-person prayer could be another tool in a clinician’s toolbox for easing suffering and supporting recovery.
