Church and Blood Pressure

Right now I am experiencing rather high blood pressure. I am not sure why but I am looking at two possible sources.

1. Maybe my prayer life is not as vigorous as it could be and needs to be to say peaceful. Jesus promised us peace if we would abide in him. I believe that is true because I have experienced more peace when I am attending church regularly and engaging in prayer, worship and Bible reading.

When I experienced severe chest pains on a flight to Singapore a doctor was discovered on the flight and he found my blood pressure to be very, very high. I told him to leave me alone for town minutes and my pressure would be lower when he returned.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Pray in the Spirit," I said. I prayed and it did come down.

2. I am in a special research study that requires me to take some new medicine. I am afraid it has a bad side effect that causes higher pressure.

In either case I know that worship is good for me. Just look at the following article.

People active in the church and who study the Bible appear to have lower blood pressure than people who are less religiously active, according to a new study from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. examined the health and habits of people 65 and older over a 6-year period. They found that people who attended religious services at least once a week showed lower blood pressure readings than folks who attended less often.

Researchers also found that people who tuned into religion programs on television or radio had higher blood pressure than those who did not. Dr. Harold G. Koenig tells OnHealth that finding may be due to the fact that people who resort to broadcasted religious programs may be too old or too sick to leave the house.

"Involvement in the religious community may have very important health benefits," Koenig says. "Religious people cope better with stress," which may explain why they have lower blood pressure, he adds findings arrive when many studies have linked religion to better health. Koenig says he's not recommending doctors to convert or prescribe religion for patients, but to be aware that faith can be a factor in one's health. The study appears in the summer issue of International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.

So, prayer, worship, study and fellowship are actually good for my body as well as my soul! And, as my dad would say, "All that benefit for only a couple of dollars a week."