My evangelical cousin is at death's door.

[TigressDem]

36. For a person of faith, having people pray for you helps lessen stress.

No one likes to be alone facing a health crises, but there isn't a lot anyone can do in a practical sense.

On the off chance there is any force for good in the universe, many people accept the good will of prayer, let go of trying to manage and control everything and relax a bit, reducing stress.

So if having someone pray for them allows a person to let go of stress, it can make their body better able to heal. Stress hormones can cause a resistance to chemotherapy.

Per National Cancer Institute (.gov)
Stress and Cancer - NCI
Chronic stress may also lead to the release of a class of steroid hormones called glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids may inhibit a type of tumor cell death called apoptosis and increase metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy (14).Oct 21, 2022


A non-believer can possibly get the same result by talking with someone or reading a book or watching a movie, anything that helps them feel calm and relaxed in the face of a heavy duty situation.

Even if stress is only 5% of the problem, being able to have a little personal control over anything in face of something so horrible can't hurt and might help.