Five minutes.

That is what researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine studied: five minutes of in-person Christian prayer offered to patients who came into a primary care clinic with pain, anxiety or both.

In the groundbreaking study, which was published last month, A trained volunteer sat with the patient and prayed face to face. Other patients in the study listened to soft music for the same amount of time. Researchers then measured pain and anxiety immediately after the visit, again two weeks later and again six weeks later.

The randomized controlled trial, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, included 180 adults who reported moderate to severe pain, anxiety or both. 

Patients who received prayer reported greater reductions in pain immediately after the session and at the two-week follow-up than those who listened to music. The difference in pain was less clear at six weeks, but reductions in anxiety remained stronger among the prayer group throughout the study period.

For believers, the study is not surprising. Christians have been praying over the sick, the anxious and the suffering since the earliest days of the church.

James 5 tells believers, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him.” 

Philippians 4 tells Christians to bring their anxieties to God “by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving,” followed by the promise that “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

While prayer is not a technique Christians use to get a guaranteed physical result, prayer is how believers bring weakness, fear, grief and pain before God, who hears them.

The study looked at what researchers call “proximal intercessory prayer,” meaning prayer offered in person for someone else. The researchers found that religious affiliation, intensity of religious belief and expectation of healing did not predict who improved. In other words, the reported benefits were not limited to the people who came in already expecting prayer to help. 

That finding is significant. It suggests the act of being prayed for may carry weight even in a clinical setting where people arrive with different levels of faith, doubt, pain and fear. 

Further, the researchers found that patients were generally open to prayer being available during medical visits. According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, 97% of participants who received prayer were neutral, agreeable or strongly agreeable toward having prayer available in that setting. 

That finding pushes back against the assumption that faith has no place near medicine. Many patients already have spiritual concerns at the forefront of their mind. In the face of illness, people tend to think about mortality and turn outward for hope.

Harvard researchers have also urged the medical field to take spirituality seriously in patient care. 

A 2022 report from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said spirituality is important to many patients and can influence quality of life and medical decisions, especially during serious illness. The same report noted that spiritual community participation is associated with healthier lives, including greater longevity and lower rates of depression, suicide and substance use. 

Prayer also remains a regular part of American life. Pew Research Center reported in 2025 that 44% of U.S. adults say they pray at least once a day, while another 23% pray weekly or a few times a month. Even in a more secular age, millions of Americans still turn to prayer in ordinary life and in crisis. 

The findings from these studies display that prayer works alongside medical treatment, rather than the two being opposing forces. Luke was a physician. Paul gave practical instruction about bodily ailments. Scripture never asks believers to choose between wisdom and prayer.

Jesus touched lepers, stopped for the blind and listened to desperate parents. He had compassion on the sick and the grieving. 

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” says Jesus in Matthew 11.

While this new study measures pain scores and anxiety levels, prayer in fact begins with a person who believes that God is here. The researchers measured a mere five minutes of prayer, but God is always listening. 

Pray with the sick, the anxious and the lonely. A few minutes may matter more than we think.

Feature photo: James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons