{"id":27149,"date":"2026-09-03T10:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/?p=27149"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:25:43","slug":"larry-dossey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/blog\/larry-dossey\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Prayer Work? Larry Dossey on the Science of Healing Intention and Non-Local Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"27149\" class=\"elementor elementor-27149\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f7c2e7e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f7c2e7e\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5b30533\" data-id=\"5b30533\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a9220c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a9220c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Does prayer work? Larry Dossey&#8217;s honest answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. As a physician trained in conventional internal medicine, he built a career by questioning why prayer, intention, and compassion consistently produced measurable effects in controlled studies. The evidence he has spent forty years gathering suggests something worth taking seriously is happening.<\/p><p>At Sounds True, we have followed his work closely because it asks readers to sit with genuine uncertainty rather than rush toward belief or dismissal. Our mission has always been to wake up the world by offering access to conversations exactly like this one.\u00a0<\/p><p>In this piece, we look at his background, his theory of the mind, and what the research actually shows.<\/p><h2><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/h2><ul><li><strong>Healing Intention and What It Means:<\/strong> Larry Dossey&#8217;s research asks whether focused intention can influence healing in ways conventional medicine has yet to fully explain. Forty years of evidence suggest the question is worth taking seriously.<\/li><li><strong>Consciousness Without Boundaries:<\/strong> His theory of non-local mind proposes that consciousness is not confined to a single brain or body, and may connect individual minds to something far larger.<\/li><li><strong>What the Studies Point To:<\/strong> Controlled studies point to measurable effects from prayer and focused intention, while scientific debate about mechanisms remains open and ongoing.<\/li><\/ul><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/collections\/online-courses?configure%5Bfilters%5D=%28NOT%20tags%3ASearchspring-Exclusions%29%20AND%20collections%3Aonline-courses&amp;configure%5BfacetingAfterDistinct%5D=true&amp;configure%5BclickAnalytics%5D=true&amp;refinementList%5Bnamed_tags.data--parent-category%5D%5B0%5D=Psychology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26843\" src=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources.png\" alt=\"Uncover How Your Mind Works with Valuable Resources\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources.png 1920w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Uncover-How-Your-Mind-Works-with-Valuable-Resources-800x450.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><\/p><h2><strong>Who Is Larry Dossey?<\/strong><\/h2><p>Larry Dossey, MD, served as a battalion surgeon in Vietnam before becoming chief of staff at Medical City Dallas Hospital, a fairly conventional trajectory for someone who would later challenge medicine&#8217;s assumptions from the inside.\u00a0<\/p><p>His book <em>Healing Words<\/em> became a New York Times bestseller and helped bring prayer healing into mainstream medical education. He is one of many teachers and researchers whose thinking we carry at Sounds True, and readers curious about how his ideas connect with others&#8217; can find the full range of voices on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/blogs\/authors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">All Teachers &amp; Authors<\/a> page. Dossey frames the history of medicine in three stages:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Era I: The Body as Machine<\/strong> Era I treats the body as something to be fixed through physical interventions, including surgery, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostics. This approach defined medicine for centuries, and its focus on measurable, physical causes and effects laid the groundwork for how healthcare works today.<\/li><li><strong>Era II: Mind Meets Body<\/strong> Era II acknowledges that thoughts, beliefs, and emotions can shape physical health outcomes. Research has since affirmed this connection through work on stress reduction, meditation, and breathwork.<\/li><li><strong>Era III: Consciousness Beyond the Body<\/strong> Era III is the stage Dossey argues we are now entering, one where consciousness may reach beyond an individual&#8217;s skin and skull to influence outcomes at a distance. This is the most contested of the three, and the question his career has been devoted to building a case for.<\/li><\/ul><h2><strong>The Non-Local Mind Theory<\/strong><\/h2><p>The idea of non-local mind sits at the center of nearly everything Dossey writes. He argues that consciousness is not confined to a single brain or body, which may help explain why one person&#8217;s intention can seem to affect another person or organism at a distance. This is the foundation of what he calls consciousness medicine: a way of approaching healing that takes seriously the possibility that the mind&#8217;s reach extends beyond the body.<\/p><p>Dossey describes a non-local mind as unbounded in space and time, and as incapable of remaining separate from other minds. Within this framework, the consciousness participates in something he calls the One Mind. Our working concept of mind has been expanding since the nineteenth century, with subdivisions like the conscious, preconscious, subconscious, and collective unconscious gradually filling out the picture.\u00a0<\/p><h2><strong>The Research Behind Prayer Healing<\/strong><\/h2><p>Much of the research Dossey cites comes from decades of controlled experiments, including studies by the Spindrift Organization examining whether focused intention can influence outcomes in bacteria, plants, and human patients. He reports that over 100 such studies point to a real, if modest, effect. Prayer healing is cited across this research as one of the clearest examples of non-local consciousness in action.<\/p><p>The evidence spans three distinct categories: healing in human patients, healing at a cellular level, and healing in plants and animals. Two case studies are offered in direct support of non-local healing, with the underlying question being whether medicine can afford to close the door on any reliable pathway toward recovery.\u00a0<\/p><p>We follow conversations like this one closely on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/a\/resources\/podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Insights at the Edge Podcast<\/a>, where guests are invited to test their ideas through genuine dialogue rather than simply restate them.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/collections\/online-courses?configure%5Bfilters%5D=%28NOT%20tags%3ASearchspring-Exclusions%29%20AND%20collections%3Aonline-courses&amp;configure%5BfacetingAfterDistinct%5D=true&amp;configure%5BclickAnalytics%5D=true&amp;refinementList%5Bnamed_tags.data--parent-category%5D%5B0%5D=Meditation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26771\" src=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True.png\" alt=\"Center Yourself With Meditative Teachings by Sounds True\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True.png 1920w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Center-Yourself-With-Meditative-Teachings-by-Sounds-True-800x450.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><\/p><h2><strong>Distant Healing and What Studies Suggest<\/strong><\/h2><p>Dossey&#8217;s writing on distant healing extends this logic outward, proposing that care, love, and focused attention can travel across space without any known physical mechanism. Studies within prayer research science have examined everything from cardiac patients to seed germination, and Dossey reads those results as evidence that the mind operates beyond the boundaries conventional science assumes.<\/p><p>This research disclosed that prayer had a measurable effect not only on human beings but also on bacteria, germinating seeds, and animals. Some cases of distant consciousness operating on non-humans are noted in the literature, but the central focus remains the healing power of intercessory prayer on humans and what that might mean for how medicine approaches care.<\/p><p>Critics, including psychologist Robert Baker, have argued that Dossey&#8217;s conclusions outpace what the data can firmly hold, and mainstream science has not settled the question. Those drawn to the terrain he is mapping will find a hands-on starting point in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/collections\/subtle-energy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subtle Energy collection<\/a>, which gathers programs and teachings on energy-based healing practices.<\/p><p>Also, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/collections\/spirituality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spirituality &amp; Awakening collection<\/a> covers similar ground through a wider range of traditions, for anyone who wants to deepen this inquiry through practice as much as reading.<\/p><h2><strong>Dossey&#8217;s Influence on Modern Healthcare<\/strong><\/h2><p>Dossey&#8217;s work in consciousness medicine has shaped how integrative medicine is discussed at the federal level: he served as co-chair of the Panel on Mind-Body Interventions for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, placing his ideas in federal research conversations.\u00a0<\/p><p>He was also appointed to Hillary Rodham Clinton&#8217;s Task Force on Health Care Reform and, for many years, served as executive editor of <em>Explore<\/em>, The Journal of Science and Healing, a peer-reviewed publication covering integrative approaches to medicine. Over the decades, he has lectured at Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell, before audiences not typically receptive to unverified claims.\u00a0<\/p><p>His legacy lies not only in the claims he has made but in the space he has kept open. Not every conclusion he draws may hold up under further study, yet Dossey has helped ensure that questions about prayer healing, non-local mind, and the mind&#8217;s potential role in physical recovery remain part of serious medical dialogue.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundstrue.com\/collections\/online-courses?configure%5Bfilters%5D=%28NOT%20tags%3ASearchspring-Exclusions%29%20AND%20collections%3Aonline-courses&amp;configure%5BfacetingAfterDistinct%5D=true&amp;configure%5BclickAnalytics%5D=true&amp;refinementList%5Bnamed_tags.data--parent-category%5D%5B0%5D=Meditation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26769\" src=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True.png\" alt=\"Awaken Something Greater Within You. Find Teachings that Speak to You With Sounds True.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True.png 1920w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Awaken-Something-Greater-Within-You.-Find-Teachings-that-Speak-to-You-With-Sounds-True-800x450.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><\/p><h2><strong>Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2><p>Larry Dossey does not ask you to take his conclusions on faith. He asks you to look at the data, sit with an open question, and let the discomfort of not-knowing guide you toward something more honest than certainty. That spirit is something we recognize deeply at Sounds True.<\/p><p>Our mission has always been to wake up the world by giving you access to conversations exactly like this one, conversations that resist easy answers and honor complexity. We return to Dossey&#8217;s work because the question at its center has no tidy answer: whether focused intention and prayer healing represent a real frontier in medicine is something the research is still working out.\u00a0<\/p><h2><strong>Frequently Asked Questions About Larry Dossey<\/strong><\/h2><h3><strong>Is there scientific proof that prayer heals?<\/strong><\/h3><p>Evidence remains mixed and contested. Dossey cites supportive studies, while critics argue results are inconclusive or unproven.<\/p><h3><strong>What does non-local mind mean?<\/strong><\/h3><p>It describes consciousness as potentially unconfined to the brain, capable of influencing outcomes beyond physical proximity.<\/p><h3><strong>Is Larry Dossey a religious author?<\/strong><\/h3><p>No. He writes as a physician focused on evidence and research rather than any specific religious tradition.<\/p><h3><strong>Does distant healing have to involve prayer specifically?<\/strong><\/h3><p>No. Dossey includes compassion, meditation, and focused intention as forms of distant healing beyond formal prayer.<\/p><h3><strong>Do mainstream doctors accept these theories?<\/strong><\/h3><p>Not universally. Many medical schools now teach the topic, though consensus on mechanisms remains unresolved.<\/p><h3><strong>Where can I learn more about Larry Dossey&#8217;s work?<\/strong><\/h3><p>Sounds True features books, podcasts, and programs from Larry Dossey and researchers exploring similar questions.<\/p><p><strong><em>Sources:<\/em><\/strong><\/p><ol><li><em>Harding O. G. (2001). The healing power of intercessory prayer. The West Indian medical journal, 50(4), 269\u2013272. <\/em><\/li><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-fbf9e6f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"fbf9e6f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3804c85\" data-id=\"3804c85\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61188d5 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"61188d5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f9151ba elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f9151ba\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-89ec855\" data-id=\"89ec855\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71685d0 elementor-position-left elementor-vertical-align-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"71685d0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"898\" height=\"1306\" src=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Amy-Michelle-Photo.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\"><b>Michelle Cassandra Johnson<\/b> is an author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant, and intuitive healer. She is the author of six books, including <i>Skill in Action<\/i> and <i>Finding Refuge<\/i>. <b>Amy Burtaine<\/b> is a leadership coach and racial equity trainer. With Robin DiAngelo, she is the coauthor of <i>The Facilitator's Guide for White Affinity Groups<\/i>. For more, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michellecjohnson.com\/wisdom-of-the-hive\" target=_blank\">https:\/\/www.michellecjohnson.com\/wisdom-of-the-hive<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6f9afa6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6f9afa6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d86bded\" data-id=\"d86bded\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fd6acfc elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"fd6acfc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<script>\r\ndocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() {\r\ndocument.querySelectorAll('.progression-studios-blog-excerpt')\r\n.forEach(el => el.remove());\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does prayer work? Larry Dossey&#8217;s honest answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. As a physician trained in conventional internal medicine, he built a career by questioning why prayer, intention, and compassion consistently produced measurable effects in controlled studies. The evidence he has spent forty years gathering suggests something worth taking seriously [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":27150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[392,386,387],"tags":[],"contributor":[1157,1156],"class_list":["post-27149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-healing","category-spirituality","category-subtle-energy","contributor-amy-burtaine","contributor-michelle-cassandra-johnson","slider-tags-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Larry Dossey: Does Prayer Really Work?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Sounds True, we look at Larry Dossey&#039;s research on prayer healing, non-local mind, and healing intention, and what it may mean for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry Dossey: Does Prayer Really Work?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At Sounds True, we look at Larry Dossey&#039;s research on prayer healing, non-local mind, and healing intention, and what it may mean for you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/blog\/larry-dossey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sounds True\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-03T16:23:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-03T16:25:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Larry-Dossey.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1102\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ops@qckbot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ops@qckbot.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/blog\/larry-dossey\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/blog\/larry-dossey\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ops@qckbot.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d6687c7716fd6f3938859e683657371d\"},\"headline\":\"Does Prayer Work? 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