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One of the common practices performed by people of all faith backgrounds, all around the globe, is prayer. Yet depending on religious and theological beliefs, prayer is performed very differently by people of different faith backgrounds. Researchers have studied the positive power of personal prayer, with heartening conclusions.
The Positive Power of Prayer
John David Adams (2026) explored the positive power of prayer by examining the therapeutic influence of self-disclosure.[i] He began by acknowledging private prayer as an activity that, despite statistics of decreased frequency of prayer in the United States over the years, remains a common practice, with 44 percent of American adults reporting that they pray at least once a day, and 23 percent praying weekly or monthly (citing Pew Research Center, 2025). Furthermore, he recognizes that some individuals find private prayer to be an effective coping mechanism in the midst of emotional pain and suffering, and it has even been linked with quicker recovery from depression and lower rates of suicide.
In his research, Adams found that private prayer functions as a beneficial mental health resource and is linked with various measures of well-being, including less depression, more optimism, and higher levels of coping.
Emotional Disclosure Boosts Mental Health
Adams acknowledges that not all forms of prayer are equally effective. He found that a key mediating factor in the positive association between prayer and mental health is emotional disclosure. The participants in Adams’ study were Christian college students who used a seven-day prayer intervention, measuring its impact on anxiety levels. The prayer template included disclosure of feelings to God, along with expressions of confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication. The prayer intervention positively impacted the mental health of the students, including a statistically significant decrease in generalized anxiety—which is important, considering the prevalence of depression and anxiety among young adults.
Adams describes his findings as replicating and extending previous research, establishing private prayer as “an optimal context for the salutary practice of self-disclosure,” contributing to positive mental health. And for people who claim they don’t have time to practice their faith, Adams notes that even brief interventions, such as the one in his study, requiring as little as five minutes a day for one week, produce significant effects.
Personal Faith Produces Positivity
Many people of faith spend much more time praying than five minutes per day. But research reveals that some of the positive benefits of faith-based communion are not solely time-dependent but also linked with the substance of prayer. Thoughtful, intentional personal prayer is a deeper activity than automatically reciting memorized scripts or religious verses that hold no personal meaning. Sharing emotions through prayer yields the greatest results, often supplementing the therapeutic value of sharing thoughts and feelings with trusted loved ones and confidants.
In a world where negativity threatens to erode the peace and positivity of people everywhere, young and old, in every society, sharing emotions during personal prayer is a tried-and-true, research-based approach to restoring faith, hope, and happiness under any circumstance, and in every situation.
