How is spirituality related to health?

There are now literally tons of scientific publications linking spirituality to both mental and physical health. But how is spirituality related to health? In what ways are the spiritual and physical realms connected?
This morning, Dr. Brian Stiller, President of Tyndale University College, invited a small group of faculty and staff to his office to pray for me before my surgery. They prayed that God would guide the hands of the surgeon so that he will succeed in removing all the cancer cells from my body. They also prayed that God will facilitate healing and recovery.
We pray, because we believe that God answers prayers and God can directly intervene in human affairs. He is also the Great Physician who can cure us with or without the help of a skilled medical doctor.

The spirituality-health connection
But there are also scientific explanations about the connection between spirituality and health. Here are just a few of the scientific findings:
Prayer increases our hope, which strengthens of immune system and leads to health-enhancing actions.
A religious life style reduces risks factors and increases protective factors.
Faith contributes to our sense of meaning and purpose, which is important for optimal functioning, physiologically and psychologically.
Meditation is capable of reducing stress and alternating our neural structures.
Given the strong scientific support of a faith-health connection, it makes sense that we practice spirituality on a daily basis.

The exercise of Christian faith and health benefits
“Faith without works is dead,” (James 2:20, KJV) says James, and faith is work. To live by faith is to practice our faith-life daily. The Christian faith is a practical faith, because Christ is alive today and forever and he lives out his life in and through us. Not only is there no Christian without Christ, there is no Christianity without Christ living in us daily.
Authentic faith permeates everything we do and propels us beyond our comfort zone. By its very nature, faith reaches up and reaches out. But like any living thing, this kind of dynamic faith must be nurtured, cultivated and exercised. Daily.
It is a mistake to over-emphasize the importance of attending Sunday service as a means of achieving spiritual growth. Even the traditional prescription of daily devotions and weekly prayer meeting may not be enough to reap the full health benefits of Christian faith.
I believe that there are at least five time-tested biblical principles for total fitness: (1) worshipping the Father through His Son, (2) serving and surrendering to the Lord Jesus, (3) walking by faith in the Holy Spirit, (4) sharing God’s love in words and deeds, and (5) meditating on God’s Word.
This fivefold path to total health can be translated into a simple set of spiritual and physical exercises. I will introduce these exercises in this blog over the next few months. Something magical will happen, when we engage in spiritual-physical exercises over and over again. It is the daily cultivation of faith practice that enables us to attain high levels of spiritual, psychological and physical health.
There is hope for total fitness even for cancer patients like myself.